“I spoke to the store owner inside,” Tobias said. “He knows where we can get a vehicle. The place is about ten miles from here. We’ll have to walk unless we can hitch a ride again.” They had made it this far from Carson City by hitching a ride with one of the large cargo vehicles travelling the route. But it was not continuing any further and so now they had to organize another ride somehow.
“How do we get this vehicle?” Lorraine asked.
“Buy it. The store owner said the person is selling for a good price.”
“OK then, but walk ten miles?”
“Yeah. I don’t like the idea either, but we have to. John and I cased out vehicles at the store here and there are none available, despite the parking lot being almost full. None for sale and I won’t steal one…not a good idea.”
“Yeah I guess you are right. Well, let’s get going then, we have quite a walk ahead of us, but…um, maybe if we call them to come and get us and we can buy it then.”
“Thought of that. Apparently this guy is pretty paranoid. The storeowner phoned him when we were inside and the guy just said no. He told him, if we want it then come and get it.”
“Not good for sales.”
“It didn’t seem to matter. He said he didn’t need the money that bad, hence the price.”
They covered the distance to the seller’s house over the next two hours, and when they arrived the house looked deserted. “I hope he hasn’t gone out,” John said.
“Nope. I’m here.’ They turned to see the seller standing behind them pointing a laser rifle. “What do you want?”
“We are the people who want to buy your car.”
“Oh you are, are you?” he said lowering the rifle. “Well you better come with me out back and I’ll show you. No funny business though, the price stands.”
“We have enough money.” After a quick check of the vehicle, they bought it and drove away.
“That guy is a history piece,” Lorraine said looking out the rear window, but the seller had already disappeared back inside the shed out of sight.
“Takes a long time for people to change in some parts,” Tobias replied. “Hey, should we try Jake and Raynie again?”
“Good idea.” John tried the small communicator again and this time he received an answer, though in a very low voice.
“We’ve been caught, going to San…”
“What did you say?” Agent Eight barked.
“I just said we should have fought this man…to my friend,” Raynie replied.
“Ha, as if that would have done you any good. Just shut up. We’ll be arriving at headquarters soon.”
Tobias stopped the car, a look of shock on everyone’s face. Everything both Raynie and Agent Eight said had come through clearly.
“Turn around,” John said. Tobias did and hit the accelerator taking the car to maximum speed within a few seconds, on a heading back to San Francisco.
Chapter 28
Jenna was working with a holographic projection inside the ‘cupboard’. Lyle and her were attending to their individual tasks, analyzing data and preparing for their first venture into the prospective mining zone. Lyle could see the protein strings clearly and became fascinated. Each string appeared to look very similar to a DNA strand except they were single strings and not intertwined, as DNA appears to be. He could see the image change as Jenna entered algorithms and equations. “What does that do?”
“These equations are part of an algorithm I use to prepare the protein strings to be conductive. Watch this.” She entered further information and suddenly the projection increased in radiance. “See this one?” she said putting her finger through the projected image. “This one is almost ready. They take a little to warm up, for want of a better word, and then they are good to go.” The remaining strings began to take on the same radiance as the one she had indicated. Within a few seconds the entire projection was glowing, like a strand of lights in a way.
After entering a further sequence, the strings changed again where it appeared as though they were comprised of many individual light sources rather than just a general radiance. “Next I initiate quantum phasing. This allows each string to accept quantum mechanical manipulation, which is basically where they get ready take information on board. You can imagine how many channels that opens up. The ‘phasing’ is merely a state of semi flux – we are dealing with speeds just below light speed here, but just. When the information load commences, the phasing amount increases according to the amount of information sent along each string. At the quantum levels there is no overcrowding…simply as there is not enough data to create crowding, despite there being a large amount of data. The huge availability of quantum particles is a natural characteristic of the proteins, and so it remains at the same temperature. No chances of over powering them.”
She entered another sequence sending more data to the strings, which responded by appearing to move. “Don’t be deceived, they are not actually moving, it is just the data passing along the string as the quantum phasing increases and decreases, giving them an appearance of movement.”
“This is an enlarged view isn’t it?”
“Yes. You could call this organic nano mechanics just to get an idea of the size of the strings.”
“So in effect, with so many channels all the data arrives or is conducted simultaneously, or almost.”
“More or less…very tiny fractions of time.”
“And the phasing is also the transmitter?”
“Hmm…transmitter. Somewhat. Not actually a transmitter but you could say that. Aside from enabling the information load, it also works as the interface between the strings and whatever is receiving the information.”
“I can see an application for this as a test bed scenario for the work I do.”
“Oh yes. Propulsion is merely one of the many things this technology could be applied to.”
**********
Steve had been at Edwards Air Force Base far too long for his liking. He had not been given any specific commission, rather appointed to oversee small internal operations at a level he considered to be much lower than his previous role at HAARP. His thoughts were mostly about his re-assignment, baffling him into asking why over and over again. It was easy for him to assume operations at HAARP were part of some type of action, but what confused him was why he was removed. Every assignment he had ever led saw him in charge from beginning to end.
He had not done anything wrong, nor had he failed in any of his duties of command. There was no issue of compliance as he followed orders every time and he could not remember one instance where he might have asked or said anything his superiors would see as insurrection.
Steve looked up to the Moon in the dusky sky as he walked along, and thought about what he had been told in Seattle. ‘What did he mean when he said don’t eliminate the possibility? This bloody place has been nothing but routine boring crap since I arrived here. They need you Steve. What for?’
His workday had finished just a few minutes earlier and he was on his way back to his own private quarters, which were his only respite from the otherwise dull existence his professional life had become. As the path meandered through the base, it passed by the small museum dedicated to the early Space Shuttle tests and landings that had taken place there over seventy-five years before. He stopped for a moment and considered having a look, his first since arriving at the base, but decided to move on. ‘Thinking of space again - ah forget it.’ He was tired, not from hard work but from boredom and from not having enough to do, and now it was over for the day. When he arrived back to his quarters, he ate and relaxed, and then fell asleep early as if on that night there was nothing better to do.
**********
The vehicle was going down, a long way down. It was in a tube, a square tube and not a tunnel as it was vertical. The lights outside were flashing by at regular, very regular intervals. They were almost hypnotic, and it seemed to be taking forever. When at last the lights slowed and the vehicl
e came to a stop, it was twenty stories below street level. Nothing but light was visible, blocking vision and senses. They had never been this low…in their hearts. They had never been beneath the city. Nothing was over as it had all just begun. Now, they found it hard to feel, despite their times with the others and with Chan. They knew they would prevail, somewhere in their sub conscious, but they did not feel it yet. They felt lost and confused. ‘How had Agent Eight found them? John and Ryan’s gear was good and it was still working. Would they find it?’
“I suppose you are wondering how Agent Eight found you. Well, let’s just say you left some samples behind at the cabin,” was the first thing Superior Officer One said to them after they had been made to wait for an hour.
Agent Eight was also in the room, sitting perpendicular to his superior and to Jake and Raynie. He showed no expression, yet inside he was as maniacal as ever, but would not dare to appear as anything else but bland in this instance. There was nothing he wanted to give to his superior indicating any idea he was trying to please her. And these bastards, oh the pleasure he felt at having tracked them down so efficiently using the DNA scanner installed into his vehicle. He was impressed. It had worked so well and over such a long range. He thought of the chase from the cabin. It had thrilled him almost every inch of the way. Almost every inch.
“All we need are names and locations. Nothing else. Provide those and most of your troubles are over, but…we will have to keep you detained for a time. Then, you are free to return to your lives.”
Raynie and Jake said nothing.
“I see the look of worry on your faces. We will look after you, the authorities are always there for the citizens,” Superior Officer One continued. “Simple, yes?”
Agent Eight was almost bursting at the seams, yet held his composure. The sheer malice of his intentions was the driving force behind him now, but he remained steadying his outward expression of self as it twisted his inner conflict even further. He wanted to interrogate them his way. The Superior Officer was being too soft, far too soft. She was almost being nice and it sickened him.
“For now, you are to be taken to holding cells for some rest. It looks like you need it. With a fresh mind and a good meal, you will be in the best condition to give us all of the information we need. And, congratulations! You two are the very first dissidents we have captured. You are fortunate as I have chosen to personally witness the very first and you are that first. For those who will follow, I am sorry to say that they will be left to our Agents alone and their methods are not so as dignified as mine. You have a place in history!”
The last sentence stirred Agent Eight a little and his warped smile began to appear. Superior Officer One immediately noticed this. ‘Yes I bet you think you will have a place in history,’ she thought with a touch of sarcasm.
“Anyway, that is all for now. Agent Eight, take them to the facility. You may do your work there where I will be watching.”
The Agent escorted Raynie and Jake out of the office towards the access door to the square tube. They had remained silent the entire time, feeling no need to speak or really listen. They knew what the Superior Officer meant when they could go free after detainment. It would be after the system came on line and they would have had ID chips injected at the ‘facility’. Mostly they thought of each other and of their friends, and these relationships gave them strength with continued growth in knowledge and bonding.
“Wait,” the Agent told them. He made a request for his vehicle and a minute later it was positioned on the platform. “Get in.” The ride up the tube was much clearer than the ride down. Rather than being hypnotized by the lights, this time they counted them. There had been in pain during their arrival and now they had emerged out of the groggy state it had induced. It had been a strange pain. Not an electrical pain, or pressure, it was like an internal itching, and without any means to scratch the itch, it felt like they were going mad. Its’ severity had fluctuated once in response to something the Agent did via the holograms on the dashboard of his vehicle, so they knew its level could be controlled.
As the Agent drove them through the city on the way to the ‘facility’, they noticed how other vehicles automatically moved out of the way. By the time they had stopped, both of them estimated the journey to have ended somewhere to the northeast, across the Bay Bridge, and along the automatic tube road for about fifteen minutes after, meaning a rough distance of thirty to forty miles. Both of the devices John and Ryan had built were still on. This gave rise to some certainty and a deal of uncertainty when they wondered if the devices would be detected at the ‘facility’.
Upon arrival they were taken to separate cells, each equipped with their own private washroom. Then a meal was brought to them and nothing else. They were made to just sit there and wait. There had been no sign of Agent Eight since their arrival either and this puzzled them. Both of them had been preparing for a much harder time when they had been left in the custody of this man.
“Raynie. Jake. It’s John. We heard everything. We are back in San Francisco.”
Neither of them dared to respond directly as they knew high intensity audio surveillance would be in place at the facility. The devices they had been given were only a few millimeters square and stuck to their skin behind the ear. They could hear John’s voice being sent as waves directly to their brain, by-passing their eardrums entirely. It was amazing how John was able to synthesize the synaptic conversions that occurred during the interpretation of sound waves by the brain in real time.
“They took us over the Bay Bridge and on for a little while after that Jake!” Raynie shouted. Three cells inside the massive detainment block separated them from each other, and she shouted this to Jake as if to speak to him.
A voice came from nowhere, “Keep it down in there. You and your friend will not be able to determine this location. Anyhow, it doesn’t matter, you are here now.” None of the officers at the guard station took any more notice, completely unaware Raynie was telling John where she thought they had been taken.
John replied, “Raynie. Jake. I am going to remotely deactivate your devices now. I am worried the authorities will discover them when they search you, and if they have some type of scanning to detect them. Take them off and destroy them. I am sorry you will be on your own after that but only for a while. Don’t worry, we are on your case.” A moment later they both removed their devices and then flushed them away in the washroom.
“How are you?’ Jake called out to Raynie a moment later, thinking a little normal conversation was OK now.
“I’m fine. How are you?”
“Same. I guess we just wait and see.”
“Yeah. They will be able to analyze our responses and see if we are lying. That frightens me.”
“It has me worried too. It’s going to depend on their line of questioning I suppose.”
“Yeah.”
“Get some rest. I’m going to. Help us relax away from all of this for a while. We need it.”
“OK. Talk soon.” They both lay down in their respective beds and eventually fell into a restless sleep. Since leaving Carson City, it had been a long walk and then the Agent had arrested them, so they had not yet slept.
Agent Eight woke them three hours later, himself having been asleep after the long chase the day before. “Get up. We are about to begin. I hope you are well rested because you will need it.” He felt sarcasm and malice as he spoke. If he had his way, they would need all the strength they could muster to endure his methods of interrogation. His only anger stemmed from the knowledge Superior Officer One would be watching. He would have to gain her approval and he hated it.
Holographic handcuffs were again placed around Raynie and Jake’s wrists as they were escorted from their cells. An issuing officer or Agent controlled the cuffs via a small device on their belt, or wherever they chose to stash it, and they worked by attaching themselves to the individuals’ DNA patterns obtained via scan immediately prior to use. Agent Eight ha
d them at their lowest setting, making his two prisoners feel the anticipation of the coming itch, without actually getting the itch.
“Do you want to scratch yet? Perhaps you need to feel like scratching? I can make you itch so bad you feel like you are burning from your very soul. Would you like that? Do you want to feel your soul burn? I can make it so in a second.” He increased on the cuffs for a second, causing them both to flinch.
“You see people like you are not what the machine needs. The machine needs people to live their lives conforming. After all, how can a machine operate if all its parts do not perform what they are required to perform? The machine will break down, and this machine is never going to break down…once it gets fully operational.” He lost his composure for half a second.
“Agent Eight. Keep your mouth shut. Stick to the questions,” Superior Officer One barked over his Broadcomm.
“What do you mean ‘fully operational’?” Jake asked.
“Shut up! I ask questions!” Agent Eight was angered by more condescendence from his superior. “Tell me the full names of all seven of you who were in the cabin, starting with your own.” Raynie and Jake gave them their full names.
“And the others?”
“Asper, John, Tobias, Lorraine, and Ryan,” Raynie replied and Jake repeated this.
“Oh, bloody smart now eh!” Agent Eight made them itch for ten seconds, at a more intense level than they had felt previously. It was horrible and they began to know what he meant by burning. It was as if hell was rising up from within. He took the level back down, “I said full names.”
“They are,” Jake replied. “We only know their first names.” Agent Eight checked the readouts from the lie scanner – Jake appeared to be telling the truth.
“Where are they?”
“Somewhere in California. We don’t know where.”
“Are they at that house?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so.”
First Light: Book one of the Torus Saga Page 32