The room was still and the window intact. Outside, the weather was calm, but in the distance, he could see dark clouds forming. A storm was on the way.
***
Esteban was relieved to see that Emmy was finally coming out of her recent funk. He had also come to understand a great deal more about the scientist. It now made sense to him why she had borne the demise of her town’s residents on her shoulders. She had cheated death. Her fate had been the same as theirs, yet somehow, she found a way back. She returned from the edge of oblivion and in the process it made her stronger. It granted her abilities that to many, would seem unnatural. Impossible even. Yet there she was.
‘Come on,’ he said. ‘Yonten has set aside some food for us. I didn’t want to eat whilst you were going without, so I waited.’
As they set off down the corridor, Jimmy came running towards them from the opposite direction. When he stopped he was out of breath and extremely agitated.
‘What’s wrong?’ asked Esteban.
‘Something’s happened – I mean, something’s about to happen,’ replied Jimmy. ‘In the food hall. I think you’re gonna have a fight.’
‘Do I win?’
Jimmy did not hesitate.
‘Yes.’
‘And Emmy?’
‘She wasn’t with you.’
‘In that case, get her out of here.’
There was a shout from around the corner and then a monk was flung against the wall opposite. He hit the stones with spine cracking ferocity and collapsed to the floor, where he immediately lost consciousness. A moment later, the attacker was revealed to them. It was a Chinese military officer. Though not exactly dressed for combat, the man’s bulging physique could clearly be seen under the coarse fibres of his ceremonial uniform. This was a big guy, but Esteban was unfazed. He had taken down bigger.
‘I can help,’ said Jimmy.
‘Then help Emmy,’ replied Esteban. ‘The dogs were a little beyond me, but this guy, I know I can take.’
‘But...’
‘Just go!’
Esteban hoped the attacker had not seen Emmy. She was already beginning her escape when the monk had been knocked out cold in front of them. At the very least, he could buy her enough time to make it to the tunnels, but he did not think that would even be necessary. With the stakes so high, ethics did not figure in the equation at all. Ever since the first attack on the temple he had started to wear his sidearm at all times. He withdrew his pistol and directed his aim at the throat of his foe.
‘You don’t need to understand English to know what I want you to do,’ he said to the interloper. ‘Get on your knees, put your hands in the air, or just do whatever it is that you people do to signal your surrender.’
The Chinese man responded in his native tongue. The words were indecipherable, but the tone was clear. He was not giving up.
‘This is your last chance,’ said Esteban.
He steadied his aim. There was a gap of at least ten metres separating the two men. He could empty an entire magazine in the time it would take the other man to bridge that divide. Rather than surrender or run, his foe calmly strode towards him.
‘Time’s up!’
He squeezed the trigger. The recoil caught him by surprise as it was much stronger than normal. It was as if he had fired a handheld cannon. Except that it was not the recoil at all. It was a hand around his wrist, bending the trajectory of his bullet and sending it to impact redundantly into a wall. The gun then fell from his grasp.
It was impossible for his foe to have traversed the distance so quickly, but Esteban had no time to dwell on how the paradox had been sidestepped. The man’s power was greater than anything he had faced in combat before. He withdrew his wrist from the attacker’s hold with a sharp tug, which almost felt like it would take his hand off. There was no more strength left in that hand and to attempt to punch with it would do him more damage than the person on the receiving end.
The Chinese man lunged at him, hoping to get another hold, but this time Esteban was able to duck out of the way. He now had the drop on his foe and was determined to take full advantage. He kicked the other man in the gut and then spun low, sweeping his legs out from under him. As the man fell, he did not so much hit the floor as fall right through it. Esteban then felt a sharp blow between his shoulder blades.
He hit the deck face first. Instinct alone was what kept him going. He rolled to the side just in time to avoid the bottom of the other man’s boot. Determined not to give up, if only just to buy Emmy more time, he sprung back to his feet.
The risk of damaging his right hand no longer seemed an issue. He took a swing at his foe. It failed to connect, but the follow-up with his left did. His opponent barely even flinched. Rather than expend more wasted energy, Esteban tucked his head down low and charged into the Chinese soldier, ramming him into the wall. The stones had a greater effect than his fists, but it was still not enough. His opponent was done with playing.
When the fist connected with the side of his face it was like being hit with a jackhammer. This time when he hit the floor, he knew he would not be getting up. The Chinese man knelt beside him and Esteban assumed he would go for his throat, but he was wrong. Instead, the man placed the palm of his hand on Esteban’s chest, directly over his heart. The two acts of teleportation had weakened him. He needed to replenish his energy-matter.
Esteban had no idea what was coming, but it made no difference either way – he was beaten. The strength and even the will to resist had deserted him. His head lolled to one side and as it did so, he saw feet pounding the floor ahead of him at speed. The monks all wore sandals, but these feet were covered with hiking boots.
Jimmy had come back for him.
The kid was not strong, but he did have the element of surprise and he knew exactly where to place his kick. The result was not to inflict maximum damage, but it achieved just the right angle to knock the assailant off his feet and away from Esteban. Jimmy was not a fighter and as such, it was the Chinese man who was to respond first. He unleashed a series of short, staccato jabs at the young Australian, but not one of them connected. The psychic reflex was too strong.
As Jimmy continued to dance and dodge around the fists of his attacker, Esteban was able to get to his feet. It was clear that Jimmy was leading his opponent back towards the food hall, but to what ends? Ultimately, as Jimmy tired, the other man’s greater strength and stamina would win through. Esteban had no option other than to get back into the fight. His gun was on the floor where it had fallen. He picked it up and moved as quickly as his weakened muscles would allow.
The combatants were now in the food hall. The monks cleared out of the way and upon seeing the unnatural ferocity of the intruder, they were reluctant to interfere in the fight. The two men moved at an almost incomprehensible speed. As the weaker of the two used his psychic reflexes to stay out of harm’s way by rolling and sliding over and under the tables, the larger man simply smashed through the furniture as if it was comprised of nothing more substantial than papier-mâché.
As Esteban had expected, Jimmy was starting to show signs of fatigue. He could not dodge his opponent forever. Sooner or later the intruder’s fist would connect. Just one punch and it would be over. Esteban raised the gun, but he did not have a clear line of sight. The risk of hitting Jimmy was too great. Instead of going for a kill shot, he fired into the air.
Both fighting men paused when they heard the warning shot echo throughout the chamber. Jimmy was so exhausted by his other-worldly acrobatics, that the interruption was enough to disconnect his adrenalin rush.
He fell to his knees.
Defeated.
The Chinese man did not waste any time. He grabbed hold of the young psychic, pulling Jimmy in front of himself to use as a human shield, creating a diversion that enabled him to buy the time needed to replenish his life energy.
‘Stop!’
All three men directed their eyes toward the speaker. It was Emmy.
/> ‘It’s me you want. Let them go, please.’
The soldier tilted his head so that he could look the scientist up and down. Once he realised who she was he threw Jimmy aside like a piece of garbage. He then stared at Emmy as if he was locked in a trance-like state. All the aggression left his features placing him in what appeared to be a moment of pure bliss.
He was far from at peace, however. As he continued to focus his full attention on the scientist his skin started to glow like there was a fire burning underneath its surface. Cracks appeared all over his body, allowing a brilliant light to escape.
Emmy had witnessed this once before. It was in her dream when her grandfather had literally self destructed. He had blown himself up right in front of her. The unknown assailant was about to do the same and in doing so he would take the entire monastery with him. She could not allow this to happen.
Esteban fired into the soldier’s chest. He emptied what was left of his penultimate magazine, but to no effect. This was no longer a human being he was dealing with. The man’s molecules had become so excited that his torso was now composed of plasma. He had super-heated himself in readiness for his imminent detonation, placing him beyond the effects of conventional weaponry. The only person that could stop him now was Emmy.
She noticed the soldier was standing directly in front of a large window, which with a storm raging outside, cast very little light into the room. Without hesitation, she ran towards him, propelling herself onward into a dive as she neared, sending them both crashing through the glass and into the void beyond.
There was no time for Esteban, Jimmy or anyone else to intervene. They could only watch on with impotent horror as the enemy soldier and the scientist disappeared into the storm outside. All the while, the fire within the Chinese man’s soul continued to grow ever stronger and increasingly unstable.
The mountainside fell away at a sheer angle as the pair plummeted before vaporising in an explosive release of pure energy. The foundations of the monastery shook, tearing cracks into the walls and ceilings, but the integrity of the building stood firm against the blast.
Esteban and Jimmy looked to one other from either side of the destroyed window. Neither could fully take in what they had witnessed, leaving them both at a complete loss for words. Emmy was gone.
Chapter 39
The general had astral scouts patrolling the base of the mountain. He deemed it too risky for them to actually breach the monastery so he watched Jing Fan’s incursion via a live satellite feed. In this instance he was not too concerned about what mystery weapons Dr Rayne could improvise in retaliation. All Jing Fan had to do was establish visual confirmation of the target and the Australian would be taken care of – permanently.
The explosion briefly caused the feed to white out. When the visual was restored, the general could see that the structure built into the side of the mountain was still intact. Something had gone wrong.
‘What happened?’ he asked.
‘I do not know,’ replied Major Heng. ‘The detonation could only have come about at Jing Fan’s doing. Perhaps the target attempted to flee?’
‘Maybe he listened to his conscience,’ suggested Charlie, whose interruption greatly irked General Tao. ‘We have no idea how many monks are in residence. Would you have preferred it if he had exterminated countless innocents in order to eliminate one individual?’
‘There are no innocents on that mountain,’ replied the general. ‘I may yet see fit to purge that place. Anybody who has come into contact with Dr Rayne is a threat. You are proof of that, Dr Nguyen.’
‘My friendship with Emmy has nothing to do with any of this. You do not have China’s best interests at heart – you’re crazy. The minute Beijing learns of what you are doing here they will shut you down and place you under immediate arrest.’
‘By the time Beijing learns anything, victory over our enemies will be assured. The only traitor here is you, Dr Nguyen, and I grow tired of your insolence.’ He raised his hand to a pair of guards assigned to watch over Charlie. ‘Take him to his cell. If he offers any kind of resistance – you are authorised to use whatever force necessary to bring him under control.’
Charlie offered no such resistance as he was escorted away. This time he was handcuffed to the bed and the guards stayed with him. One was posted inside of the cell and the other outside - guarding the door.
‘What are your orders, General?’ asked Major Heng, once the only dissident voice in the camp had been removed.
‘We will proceed as planned. No matter the fate of Dr Rayne, I regard this mission as a success. We have eight bombs remaining. Our enemies will not know what hit them.’
***
Esteban and Jimmy had not spoken a word to one another since seeing Emmy throw herself out of the window, taking the enemy soldier with her. Jimmy was puzzled as to why he had not foreseen such an important event and Esteban was just trying to make sense of what had actually happened.
The way the attacker had fought was in keeping with the reports he had read on Jackson Fox towards the end. Superhuman strength, impossible reflexes and the ability to teleport at will. And there was more, too. The guy had literally exploded. Esteban wanted to believe that this was an accident, an unwanted side effect of whatever crazy experiment had produced this monster, but something told him otherwise. He suspected the man had been intended as a suicide bomber.
The monks worked quickly and efficiently in patching over the broken window. Esteban thought it best not to interfere. They had shown nothing but kindness and expected nothing in return, yet all the destruction from the two attacks on the monastery had been brought about because of him and his friends. When he saw Yonten enter, the soldier decided that he should say something.
‘I’m sorry we brought this on you,’ he said.
‘No apology is necessary,’ replied Yonten. ‘Nothing has been lost. Where you see death, I see only rebirth.’
‘Forgive me if I take little consolation from that. I was sent here for a purpose and without Emmy, I can no longer fulfil my obligation.’
‘I am sure she can still help you.’
‘You can contact her?’
He thought back to the murals Emmy had shown him earlier. Like her, were the monks able to exercise powers beyond ordinary human comprehension?
‘We shall go to her now,’ said Yonten. ‘She has exerted herself, but the greater her mastery of her power, the more quickly she will recover.’
‘Recover – from death?’
The monk offered him a puzzled look.
‘From her meditations. I was with her when she repelled the invader. She is a remarkable woman. To affect such control over a tulpa requires the greatest purity of mind.’
‘She’s alive?’
‘More so than you or I could possibly imagine.’
Jimmy overheard the two men talking. As soon as he became aware that Emmy was alive he was given one of his unique glimpses into the near future. Computer monitors took the place of the food hall benches. It reminded him of the laboratory back in Australia. Emmy and Esteban were with him along with an Asian man whom he thought he recognised from Jackson’s Hill. He assumed this was Charlie.
‘It’s over,’ he heard Emmy’s former lab partner say.
‘We can’t just give up,’ she replied.
‘What else can we do? There are eight human bombs out there and we have no way to pinpoint their exact locations. It’s too late. General Tao will have his war and he will win.’
‘There has to be a way.’
Jimmy saw a ghostly image of his future self entering the scene. He heard just two words and then the vision dissipated. He was back in the food hall. Esteban and Yonten were still in dialogue, completely oblivious to his foresight. They broke away from their conversation when he approached.
‘What’s wrong, Jimmy?’ asked Esteban. ‘You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.’
‘I always see ghosts,’ he replied. ‘Isn’t that why you bro
ught me here?’
‘So what’ve you seen this time?’
‘The soldier who attacked the base; there’re eight more like him.’
‘Eight?’ Esteban thought back to how close they had come to being defeated by just one. ‘We stop them though – right?’
‘I don’t know.’
Both men searched the other’s eyes, hoping to find any sign of hope. Neither was successful.
Chapter 40
Time was up and there was still no word from the team in Tibet. The politicians were determined to press ahead with the planned drone attack. By flying low and staying below the mountain peaks, it would be able to stay off the Chinese radar. Whether it would go undetected by their other form of defence was another matter entirely. Either way, the mission was now out of Colonel Rodman’s hands.
The soldier had no desire to witness whatever tragedy was sure to follow this latest course of action. He had seen enough of death during his long and distinguished career.
After reporting the launch to James Earl in Washington, he tidied his desk, put on his medals, then pressed the nub of his standard issue service pistol to his temple and squeezed the trigger.
His life did not flash before his eyes.
It was the lives of others that were to be the image he would leave the world with. The face of every man and woman to die under his command briefly raced through his thoughts.
Having overseen the latter stages of Operation Sleepwalker, he thought he had a good idea of what to expect in the moments after the bullet carved its fatal path through his cerebral cortex.
He was wrong.
The sensation was so slight as to barely qualify as an experience at all. All of his feelings, his passions and his desires died with his body. He took his memories with him, but without a brain to process the information, he no longer had access to them. All that now mattered was a single overriding purpose.
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