The Skywalkers: A Thriller (A Rossler Foundation Mystery Book 5)

by JC Ryan

  “What are you two up to?” she said.

  “About 6’10”,” JR deadpanned. Robert chuckled.

  “Very funny. Bend down here so I can smack you,” she joked. “But seriously…”

  JR relented, knowing he couldn’t get away with much when it came to Salome’s sense of humor, which wasn’t as silly as his. “Robert’s come up with an idea. He’s thinking of going to some of these prepper groups and telling them he’s going home to get himself ready for whatever it is they’re worried about. Maybe they’ll give him some pointers we can use.”

  “They probably could, but I think you two are going to be busy. Daniel’s talking to John Brideaux about funding your expedition at last.”

  “That’s great news!” JR exclaimed.

  Salome’s final visit was to her husband in his lab. She noted with approval that instead of the usual chaos, he had everything neatly packed away except for what he was working on at the moment.

  “I have another list of requests from Sarah and the other women, my love. Can you get to these right away?”

  “My lord, when will they dry up for ideas?” he asked. “They’ve got me so busy I can hardly get my real work done. What is it with women? You can’t ever satisfy them.”

  Salome smiled at him and moved into his arms, forcing him to put down his tools and hold her. “You satisfy me, lover.”

  Roy immediately turned bright red, and said, “But you’re not a woman.”

  She raised her eyebrows at him.

  “I mean, not like those women. Oh, heck, I don’t know what I mean.”

  “I’m glad to see I can still get you riled up,” she said, still smiling.

  “Every minute of every day,” he sighed, surrendering to the kisses she gave him until he relaxed.

  Patting him on the back, she said, “Remember, get those done right away, in case they have more.”

  As she left his office, Salome suppressed a giggle when she heard him say, “Women!”

  ***

  Raj gave the translation team the final sound files, and over the next three weeks they got to the last translations.

  In the meanwhile, Daniel kept Brideaux informed of progress on a regular basis through a satellite phone Brideaux had supplied. He assured Daniel the special phone was absolutely, 100%, safe and secure – no one would be able to track or eavesdrop on their conversations. Since Salome had warned him about that months ago, Daniel was glad to have it.

  The two men agreed that Matthews could now be released from his contract - they had other things to focus on now than looking for ancient flying machines. Brideaux would pay him the agreed amount for helping tremendously with the Eighth Cycle work, but he would no longer be required for now. If and when things settle down, Daniel assured Brideaux that Matthews was welcome to come back and continue his research on flying machines.

  When the translators had finally worked through all of the information about how the beast worked – that is, excluding the instruction manual, Daniel, JR, Robert and Roy convened to assess what they now knew. The problem was, the material was mostly vague. But, at least it confirmed a few things the unknown correspondent said in the letter. The instruction manual would be located in the same room as the beast. The warning to be careful, and accounts of others who tried to disable or destroy it being killed on the spot.

  Something new, but not entirely useful was that only members of The Council of The Selected knew what the beast looked like. There was some description, but the translation was weird – the best Joseph’s team could come up with was that there were three “eyes” on the beast. Two sitting next to each other and a long square one below the two. JR remarked it sounded almost like a face; two eyes with a mouth below. Other words they thought might refer to measurements or what they think could be measurements since there were no words like them in the Athabaskan tongue and measurements made sense in context. But, no one had any idea how the Eighth Cyclers measured things, so it was impossible to say how big this thing was. Another strange description mentioned the “eyes” were like water with a light shining out of it. JR and Roy reckoned with a bit of imagination that sounded like a computer screen. It also mentioned a table with “sticks” on it, which they imagine could be some sort of control device, something like a keyboard or joysticks of sorts. The conclusion was the beast could look much like the desktop portion of a modern computer – maybe.

  Finally they found an article with very sobering contents explaining in much detail how the Eighth Cycle system worked. Each human being was implanted with a “thing” (the translators’ word for an untranslatable word) in his or her right hand at birth. That “thing” kept them in touch with each other at all times. Roy’s immediate thought was a nano-computer or chip, something similar to the ID chips placed in pets, but much more sophisticated.

  Now the group had to pause for a break while Raj was sent for and brought up to speed on the discussion. Roy reminded him about a discussion they’d had about building a nano-computer the size of the head of a match stick. Now Raj excitedly jumped in.

  “Yes! We talked about that. You were saying it could be more powerful than any computer we have today!”

  When the group reconvened with Raj now in attendance, they learned Roy was on the right track. The “thing” in their hands not only kept them in touch, but it directed the lives of Eighth Cycle citizens. They would just swipe their hands past an “eye” at the “storehouses” where they would get their food and supplies. A device not only registered but controlled what they obtained. It also reminded them when to go in to see a doctor, which Joseph had mentioned to Sinclair was designated by the Athabaskan word for shaman. Within this part of the information was a great deal of detail about medicines, ceremonies and other archaic notions of medicine. Sinclair suspected the Athabaskan words concealed something sinister with regard to the constant monitoring of every citizen’s health.

  It became very clear from what they read as they continued that there were no financial concepts such as we have today for money or payments in the Eighth Cycle. It appeared from what the translators had so far given them that it had been a moneyless society. The “thing” will allow them to only get the food and medication that was prescribed to them based on their “blood”, although no mention of other necessities such as housing and clothing were mentioned in any of the translated articles. Sinclair speculated it was probably the same; however, he pointed out, they had only translated portions Raj had identified as having to do with the beast. Apparently the beast was concerned with the health of the citizens, which didn’t make sense given what they also knew about it – it killed.

  At this point, JR said, “You know, the more we read, the more I think we should have included everyone from the beginning. We need Rebecca for this part.”

  Daniel agreed. “Let’s break for lunch and I’ll gather up the rest of the inner circle. We’ve got to know everything we can, and as JR pointed out, we’re missing some key people. Be back here in an hour and we’ll continue.”

  As it happened, the entire group convened in the canteen, but they kept the discussion of what they were doing in the conference room out of their lunch conversation. By now, with the secret of the Enigma project and the sensitive nature of the Eighth Cycle project, there was little to talk about except subjects long considered taboo in large gatherings. Like politics.

  Salome asked if anyone else had noticed the proliferation of political chatter on social media. Most of the group turned blank faces to her. Who had time for that drivel? Daniel, however, spoke up immediately.

  “I have. You know I keep up with the old Times crowd, right?”

  A few of the others nodded, Raj shrugged and Roy swiveled his head back and forth between his wife and Daniel with a curious expression, as if he’d never heard of social media.

  “So,” Daniel continued. “We used to pride ourselves on balanced reporting. When I worked there, I mean. But now, the editors seem to have hand-picked a Preside
ntial candidate and all the stories are about how great he is and how lame all the others are. What’s that all about? It’s like they’re trying to brainwash the public. And it’s not just the news site itself. A lot of the reporters have Facebook pages, and that’s all they post, too.”

  Salome was nodding. “I’ve observed the same. Let me guess. The hand-picked candidate is the incumbent, yes?”

  “Yeah,” Daniel answered. “You’ve read the Times, too?”

  “No,” she said. “But it’s everywhere. I’ve never seen anything like it. It can’t help but sway the election. The average person doesn’t think for himself any more. He does what the media suggests.”

  “Sounds just like the Eighth Cycle,” Sinclair muttered. He’d had more opportunity to read other bits of translation, before they started focusing on the beast. His young team member was right. It sounded exactly like Brave New World.

  They were soon back at work, now with everyone present and filled in on what they’d already discussed. They were ready to keep reading and discussing. The “thing” in the hand was also connected to the beast it seemed, and it didn’t seem to matter how near or far the physical location was. If a citizen tried to tamper with the tracker (as the group were now calling it) or remove it that citizen would be dead very quickly. If someone did not eat the food or take the medicine at the time he was supposed to, he would get severe pains, something like the shocks from a dog’s bark collar, Robert suggested. The others stared at him in horror. Who used those these days? He quickly went back to the reading. If a citizen kept on ignoring the prompts, the pain would get more severe and in the end would just be killed if he didn’t “listen”.

  It also seemed that the “thing” would be “looking” at their “blood” and decide who should be married to whom and how many children they could have. The article stated that part was only introduced recently and many people were very unhappy. Some tried to remove the “thing” and died, some “protested” and died. After a period of upheaval, they just had to accept it. They were told it was better for them because the “new” people (babies that were born after this rule was enforced) were healthier than before. They should be happy, because it looked like their children would live to 200 and beyond!

  Rebecca had been quiet until now. Whatever this device was that the group was calling the tracker, no one needed her help to understand its function. It obviously both analyzed and monitored the citizens. Now she did have something to contribute.

  “This is almost certainly a reference to genetics. In fact this looks very much like genetic engineering.”

  The others picked it up immediately. Coupled that with what they knew about the potential of nano medicine and Roy telling them about nano-bots and poison and nano computers, it could very well be what was going on in the Eighth Cycle – a deadly nano-bot, virus or poison linked to the DNA of the people, each individually programmed. They’d been controlled by a nano-bot implanted into them and any dissidents were punished or killed by the beast. But, how was it done, specifically?

  Except for poison, nothing the group could think of would kill quickly, much less instantly as the letter had hinted. And how could poison be delivered precisely and individually? Could it have been introduced into the prescribed food or medications? Wouldn’t the citizenry have rebelled if that were the case? And what mechanism would strike a person dead for attempting to tamper with it? It was all very puzzling.

  By the time the group had made it through only a tiny fraction of the translated material, they were all exhausted. Yet, more research was needed and they had to get through the rest of it. With all they were doing for the Enigma project and now this, progress was painfully slow.

  But, after a few weeks, they all knew what would have to be done. Every one of them feared it and no one wanted to talk about it before now, but even Sarah and Rebecca accepted it. They would have to go back again – this time to find the beast and its instruction manual.

  There was no time to waste. They would still have to translate it very carefully; there could be no misunderstanding – that warning was all too clear. Once they knew how the beast operated and could be shutdown, they’d have to do it. Based on the fact that the rest of the facility was still operational – the elevators, the still-undiscovered ventilation system that simply had to be there – it had to be assumed the beast was also still operational. And even though there were no trackers implanted in their hands, how could they be certain its defense mechanisms couldn’t still kill or gravely injure them? They couldn’t.

  They still have no certainty how exactly the beast was killing people that got close to it in the past and then also how exactly it was connected to the “birds” in the sky and how that was used to kill people. Was it poison, a gas? Could it be a nano robot or nano poison, even an invisible death ray? They hadn’t discovered how, but they did now know with certainty that death was very quick once the beast was activated – the victim would be dead in less than a minute.

  They were speculating, but no one doubted their only option was to go and find that manual now.

  Daniel had duly reported to John Brideaux as their deliberations continued. Now he had to report they would have to go back again, if only just to get that manual and get it translated. As always, Brideaux was helpful and supportive, still willing to fund anything Daniel required. As he told Daniel, now the beast had been discovered again, it was imperative they get to it and destroy it before news of it leaked and it fell into the wrong hands.

  Chapter 37 - I am going

  After weeks of learning everything they could, the Rossler Foundation inner circle knew it was time to start planning for the expedition. They had some serious issues to work through, and every one of them had a stake in it. Daniel, Sarah, JR and Rebecca, Roy and Salome, Raj, Sinclair, Robert, Luke and of course Joseph convened for a pre-planning meeting, to lay out the problems. Daniel had a presentation ready.

  First they had to be able to identify the correct room. They couldn’t go and open every door on that floor and look inside, because it could trigger the beast. If they did somehow identify the correct room in advance, the question was if the door could be booby trapped. Would it set the beast in motion when the door was opened or broken down?

  Would the door open like the other doors in the facility or would this one have a different mechanism and if so, what could it be and what will happen if the door is not opened in the correct way?

  Before Daniel went on with the next problem, Roy offered a potential solution to the first one.

  “We can get past this without bothering to open any doors or risking setting off the beast. We can use a remote control robot equipped with one or more of my laser cutters.” Roy was referring to the extremely powerful hand-held laser cutters he developed and used during the Sword of Cyrus crisis. Daniel and the others no doubt remembered very well the demo Roy gave them then, when he cut through a six foot granite block in a few seconds with a little handheld laser – the evidence was still very visible outside in the Rossler Foundation garden.

  Roy was still explaining his thinking. “We can cut a tiny hole in the wall of each room and send in a nano-robot with a camera to check it out. Once we have the right room, we can cut a bigger hole and send in a bigger robot to retrieve the manual.”

  “What’s this ‘we’ business,” Salome muttered, but everyone else was attending Roy’s discourse, so no one heard her.

  ”We’ll have to scan the walls before we cut, of course,” Roy was saying, “to make sure we don’t disturb anything that might trigger the beast.” He further explained that they’d use tools similar to what electricians use to determine if there are electrical wires behind a wall before drilling into it. Doing it with the robots would give them a chance to see what the beast looked like and the layout of the room, not to mention what may be going on in that room without putting themselves into too much danger. It was entirely possible that a robot might even be able to disable or destroy the beas
t. They couldn’t know for sure until they get there and could get a robot into the room.

  With that solution agreed upon, Daniel presented the next. How quickly and easily could the manual be translated? Should they get the manual and come back to the Rossler Foundation, get it done here and then go back and destroy the beast? Daniel had a concern about that, and relayed what Brideaux had said to him. The longer they delayed, the higher chance the beast could fall into the wrong hands and be used with disastrous consequences.

  After some discussion and argument, and the group finally agreed it would be best to try to translate the manual while they were there. If it proved easy enough with the manpower and tools they had available, they would destroy the beast then.

  But again, they could only decide once they’d located the beast. This translation would have to be done with precision; they couldn’t guess or assume or have any maybes – it has to be 100% accurate and they would take as long as necessary to get that done correctly. Raj pointed out that the only way to do it would be to take his specifically modified computer equipment to run the records through, assuming they were in the same format as the other information they’d found; that is, the foils. Once again, they could only determine if it would work once they were there. This was becoming a pattern.

  Daniel had yet another issue to discuss that looked to have the same outcome. What exactly could happen if they make a mistake when trying to shut the beast down or destroy it? Would it explode, send out poisonous gas, nano-bots, or some sort of death ray? Could this thing somehow be connected to trigger a nuclear explosion? The Eighth cycle demonstrably had advanced nanotech users. The beast could very well be rigged to explode and destroy the whole facility or worse the Canyon or even worse than that.

  And again they had to agree they wouldn’t know until they got the manual. Until that time they would have the risk that whatever they did might trigger the beast. But that is a risk they would have to take, because they had no way to put this genie back in its bottle. It was even more risky to leave it there and hope no one with evil intent found it.