by Galili Black
“Why, so you could keep him over here? We had to send him through to get the whole operation in gear.”
Ted shook his head and raised his voice, “It astounds me how much you people kept hidden from me.” He glared at the other man, then added softly, “Well hopefully they won’t send him back the same way, and we’ll be able to get him out somehow or other. But you have to believe me, they’re planning something massively devastating to the human race.”
Aleister considered for a moment. “Listen, it’s been a long day. Go get some rest, in the morning we’ll get to work again and figure things out.”
Ted nodded. “You’re right. It’s been an amazing day and I’m worn out. I need to do some thinking about all of this too.”
“I want to present the situation to my superiors in light of what you’re saying. I think we’ve gotten used to thinking about getting along with those people, without really considering the long term ramifications.”
“I think you changed the power dynamic the moment you advised Ellie to keep the energy over here,” Ted said. “It might provide a real opportunity to direct the entire project in a direction that will truly serve humanity, rather than enslave or destroy it.”
“It’s worth considering,” Aleister said. “I’ll let you get some rest now; we’ll talk more about this in the morning.” He left the room and Ted sat down on the sofa. His mind was spinning with many thoughts, but a deep weariness was taking hold. He decided to go to sleep where he was in case Ellie woke up and needed him.
Chapter Sixteen
Ellie thought she heard voices coming from the next room. She struggled to wake up; a sense of overwhelming doom pervading her soul. She needed desperately to talk to Hez. He knew something that Ted needed to know. Something was going on with the people who had Hez. He was in mortal danger. She finally managed to fling off the comforter and sit up in bed. The room seemed to fade in and out of focus. She was very thirsty. She slowly got up and managed a few steps, but her head was spinning. She worked her way to the bathroom and ran a glass of water out of the faucet. It tasted very cold and refreshing. She took deep breaths and stood in front of the mirror for a moment before returning to bed.
She fell back onto the bed, trembling and the thought occurred to her that Hez would be there soon. She didn’t know how she knew this, but it was the case. It was a relief to think about seeing him again. How strange that less than six months had passed since he had sent her on her way on the Trail, and yet so much had changed. She felt an overwhelming longing to be home in their little house, sitting on the swing watching the sun set over the mountain. They used to take flowers to the graves of departed family members buried on top of that hill. Some of the graves were old, from when the first settlers had come into the area. Gran knew who they were, and how they were related. Now she was buried there too.
The thought of this made her feel both very sad and very comforted. It was good to think that Gran was buried close to their house and that they could put flowers on her grave. When all of this was over, it was one of the first things she intended to do. She could see herself kneeling down, patting the ground. Hez would be standing nearby, with his hand stuffed inside of his jacket, near his waist. He always stood like that, pressing his stomach to stay calm. She drifted off with thoughts of Hez and Gran and home.
*
She did not know how long she had dozed when she thought she heard voices again, coming from the next room. But when she opened her eyes she was not in the little room with the picture of the waterfall; instead, she was looking down on a scene, as though from a balcony. Below her were about a dozen men, sitting at a table, some of them were smoking. One of them was gesticulating wildly and the others were paying close attention to what he said. They’re acting like they’re all good friends, but they are afraid of him, she thought. They want to flatter him, because he holds the key to something they want. All of these were impressions that came into her mind as she watched the scene play out as though on a movie screen.
“We’ve been double crossed, but we can put a remedy in place that will make it all good. In fact, this little mishap may prove to be a blessing in disguise,” the man said with a quick smile. “I think we may be able to proceed ahead of schedule with Operation Cripton. For those of you not up to speed on the latest developments, we have prepared a little video.” The space behind him lit up with an image that at first she took to be a statue. It reminded her of the Oscar statue, but in a few moments she saw that it was some kind of animated human form.
The image began to speak. “I stand before you the perfect realization of many years of labor and perseverance. I and my brothers have come into being to exemplify the perfection to which humanity has been groping for untold ages. Each of you sitting at this table tonight will have an immortal son to carry all your superior qualities into a future of unimaginable glory. We have been created from the fusion of pairs of brothers, with no taint of the inferior input of the lesser type which we will not mention here. Soon all memory that such a creature tarnished the earth with its stultifying presence will be completely eliminated. I and my twelve brothers are all that humanity could ever desire for its ultimate fruition and I honor you sitting there tonight as the true fathers of this magnificent flowering.” The image flickered a moment and then dissolved away.
“But how can this be accomplished now?” An old man with great jowls demanded. He alone of the crew seemed unimpressed with the original speaker and had sat sullenly throughout the meeting, somewhat a part. “I thought we needed to get the genetic material energized for it to be able to form the thirteen. And now, you tell us that stupid girl kept the energy on the other side.”
“Yes, but we’re going to take the material over and get it done there. As I said, this may even prove to be an improvement over the original plan. I looked at some satellite photos of the event and for some reason the girl guided the main brunt of the energy into one particular mountain. We can take the thirteen there and create even mightier forms because the energy will no doubt be extremely strong in that spot.”
The old man’s scowl deepened. “And where exactly is that spot?”
“We’ve had some trouble zeroing in on it,” the main speaker replied a little nervously. “Every time we feed the coordinates into the system, it gives back contradictory information. It’s probably due to the anomalous nature of the energy in question, but it’s a mere technical difficulty. We’ll get it ironed out soon.”
“All of us sitting at this table have invested a great deal of money in this project. We were promised we would have our offspring enhanced as soon as the stellar power was set loose, and now, you’re telling us we have to go through yet another stage and you don’t even know where. How can we be sure it will even work?”
“It will, it will,” the other man said, with a nervous flourish of his hand. “No need to concern yourself. Once we’ve figured out the exact location where the girl guided the energy, we can take the thirteen over and saturate them in the power.”
“So you’ll take them over there in their artificial wombs and leave them there? Sounds risky, and that will turn them into Americans won’t it? They’ll be native born citizens of that insane place,” the old man said. There was grumbling at the latter statement.
“Please don’t use that revolting word to describe these masterpieces of modern engineering; these are state of the art developmental chambers,” the other man replied, ignoring the citizenship issue raised.
“Well, I want the perfect specimen that you have been touting ever since we gave you the first million to seed this project,” the old man said. “If for no other reason now than to honor the memory of Reginald.”
“Believe me Chapman; all will be as we promised. You will never regret providing the seed to create these perfect human specimens.”
“Harrumph!” the old man said. “I never had offspring because I couldn’t abide most people, and certainly never wanted to be responsible for cre
ating any more. If you hadn’t come to me with the promise of a perfect son, I would have died happily a childless man. Now I am beginning to wonder if you dunderheads will ever get this thing done.”
“Chapman, it’s all coming along. Let’s give Reymar another shot, surely you can accommodate one more little delay,” said the man sitting to the left of the main speaker. Ellie looked closely at him and realized he was James Edsell a well-known entrepreneur, responsible for revolutionizing one component of how the internet functioned. She wondered what he made of the general disapproval of his homeland displayed by most of the others. As this thought occurred to her, the room began to fade and though she tried to hold onto the image, it dissolved completely into the familiar surroundings of her room inside the White Mountain.
*
She got out of bed and went to the living room. Ted was sleeping on the sofa. She went over and woke him. “I’ve had a terrible vision,” she said and then went on to describe what she had witnessed.
Ted came fully awake and listened intently as she spoke. “And did you recognize anyone besides James Edsell?” he asked when she was done.
“No, not by name, though the main speaker looked familiar. Do you think it was an actual event? Because it definitely felt that way. It seemed I was watching them from above, but I can’t say how I was there, you know?”
“It could be some effect of the creation light on you. More than anyone it should affect you, since you got the most direct contact with it.”
After a moment he added, “Those bastards! Imagine trying to rid the world of half the human race. And the better half most of the time, I might add.” He looked at her with a startled expression, “And it explains their reasons for planning to eliminate much of humanity as a whole. It’s funny; I assumed it was just for the pure pleasure of murder. But those types, like to think they’re supremely rational, no matter how insane their actions.”
“They’re going to bring the embryos over and expose them to the light we’ve saved. They have to be stopped,” Ellie said glumly.
“Don’t worry, we won’t allow them to get away with their rotten plot. It sounds like the Edsell clan has been up to more than stocking the US senate with members and buying up half the Appalachians. From what I’ve heard tell, they’ve been involved in some of the worst environmental abuses, destroying mountains and polluting the water supplies of whole regions. I guess they figure they can build a better mountain after they get their better human in place.”
“You could be right. I think the mountain they were meeting in wasn’t natural. It felt different than a mountain, but like something I might have felt before.”
“We know they’re set up in a spur off the Urals, though they’ve kept the exact location a closely guarded secret. We developed this site based on the Great Pyramid design as much as that is possible, given our modern limitations. They might have gotten farther with developing a replica of the thing. All our engineers say it can’t be done, but what’s possible is always up for grabs, especially these days.”
Suddenly she began to tremble and a tear trickled down, which she brushed quickly away. “I’m sorry, I just feel so overwhelmed by all of this.”
“You need to get more rest.”
She shook her head, “No, I’ll be alright, we have to keep working. I had a strong feeling earlier that Hez would be coming here. Maybe they’ll bring him along with their super clones or whatever you want to call them.”
“You know I have Richard Ewing’s wife here too. She says they’ve been holding her husband for a year now.”
She nodded, “I saw her with you during the event. I love her husband’s books but why would they be holding him?”
“I don’t know. I guess they think he’s got some unusual insights they might be able to use.”
“Come to think of it, he did write this one book about genetically engineered cyborgs I think they were. That’s somewhat along the lines of what those clowns are up to.”
“I’m sure Mr. Ewing showed the dark side of such experimentations.”
“He did, but maybe they missed the point.”
“Yes, that too makes perfect sense, given all that we’ve seen.” He gave her a long searching look, “You still look pale, are you sure you’re okay?”
She smiled at him weakly. “I felt kind of strung out, like a bad hang over, but that’s going away. I think talking to you about it is helping. You always make me feel that things will be alright. Oh shoot, that reminds me, how is Irena?”
“She’s doing better too. I talked to her on the phone just for a moment or two, she sounded weak but okay.”
“That’s odd. You told me that we couldn’t get calls from the outside here.”
“It’s the only call I’ve ever received while I’ve been here. It may be they’ve opened up somewhat. It also appears that they’re moving people out.” He shrugged, “Well, it definitely was her voice, so I’m not going to worry about it right now. We’ve got a lot to do before the other side gets here.”
“Do you think the people who work here understand the danger?”
“They’re beginning to. We’re supposed to meet with them shortly. I want you to tell them what you saw. They will be skeptical and consider it a possible hallucination. Be sure to mention that you saw James Edsell. They know he’s involved with the other side, but you didn’t know, so that certainly lends credibility to what you saw in your vision.”
She nodded. “How did they know about who is involved on the other side?”
“Some of their information is gained from intelligence operations. They pretended to be partnering with us, but that was probably just a ruse to get information as well. It’s all so extremely complex.”
“But you brought me on board by telling me how evil they are and how we have to stand against them,” she said.
“And that is the case, but I didn’t have enough information to make the case before. But all that you saw tallies with our worst suspicions, so it will be easier to convince Aleister and the rest. I’ve already spoken about it to him and I’m pretty sure he’s convinced that we have to go against them now.”
“But you’re not certain?”
“He’s supposed to be clarifying matters with his superiors. We’ll get it all hashed out shortly. I didn’t mean to mislead you, Ellie, but this situation is so complicated, I have had to keep a very delicate balance.”
She grimaced and gave him a skeptical look, then smiled weakly. “It must be hell, being in the middle of all of it, the bureaucrats over here, the Nazis over there … me.”
“That’s a fairly apt description of the past several months, but now that all may be coming to a conclusion. We’ve just got to put our heads together and come up with a plan to thwart them.”
“I hope when Hez comes we’ll be able to talk to him about all of this. He’s got a way of sorting through bullshit and getting to the crux of a problem.”
“They may not let you talk to him alone, but maybe that won’t matter. I think your brother /sister telepathy might have gotten a boost from the event.”
“Maybe, I haven’t tested it, but for now, I need to get ready to go head to head with Aleister and crew.”
“Okay, let’s go over some of the information again.” They spent the next forty-five minutes reviewing the situation as it now appeared to them. At the end of the conversation, Ted said, “Sounds like we’re on the same page. I’ll go round us up some breakfast, while you rest.” He left her with a little kiss on the forehead. The gesture touched her deeply. She was used to brushing off emotional signs, due to an unremitting need to keep moving. Now even a small compassionate gesture seemed unbearably precious.
The thought crossed her mind that maybe she would be able to go out and find someone to care for her now that this whole thing was coming to some kind of conclusion. Of course that depended very much on what happened in the next several days. She thought of the men gathered in the room where she had been an unseen witnes
s. Whatever future they had come together to envision for humanity would be short on gestures small or large that required any tenderness, she had no doubt.
What an unlovely sight they were, despite their expensive suits and immaculate haircuts. What forces had brought them to see the world as nothing more than a potential playground for some monstrous offspring of their own? Why was most of the human race to them a mere impediment to that end? Pondering these issues, she felt as alienated from them, as though they actually were some other species.
Yet there was no doubt, they were human beings and their dream of some perfected form of man was not so unique. The only difference was they had the means to pursue the goal, which earlier dreamers had not. If they were defeated, wouldn’t the same fantasy take shape again at some future time? That thought left her feeling overwhelmed and helpless. She laid her head on the pillow and wished ardently that Hez would come. She dozed a little while and then Ted returned with food. She refused it at first.
“You have to eat and get your strength back. One of the fellows around here makes a wonderful zucchini bread. I brought you some with cream cheese. And best of all, café au lait to go with it.”
She picked up the bread and nibbled at it. “It is pretty good,” she admitted.
“Yes, he’s quite the chef. I mean to pry the recipe out of him, before he leaves us or this whole thing gets dismantled or some such finality occurs.”
She smiled. “Let’s hope for a swift resolution.”
“Amen to that,” he said picking up a piece of the bread.
When they were almost finished with their breakfast, Ian buzzed them. He barged into the room. “Good, good you found some food. And you look very well Ms. McCane,” he added.
“Yes, she’s doing very well indeed; considering all that has she’s been through,” Ted said. “Would you care to join us, Ian?”
“No, thank you, I’ve eaten already.” He paced back and forth. Aleister informed me about your misgivings and we’ve consulted about them with some of the higher ups. They’re generally of the opinion to wait and see.”