When he got to the headquarters, a passive-looking man in a suit gave him hand directions towards the entrance to Chou’s underground fortress. They took the elevator down to level five together in silence. Not quite the reception I was expecting, thought Yatsick. The guard led Yatsick down an undecorated hallway and opened a door that swooshed into the ceiling on its hydraulic motors.
Yatsick looked around and didn’t like the look of what he saw. This was a familiar environment. His experience of working for Mossad had introduced him to several different types of interrogation room and he had no doubt that he was entering one now. The guard pushed him into the room and then a rush of utility fog covered Yatsick. It trapped him and he felt it checking all of his electronic equipment, starting with his phone. When the fog got to his wrist, it lit up and sent a signal directly to Lau’s number two technician. Thanks to Lau's stolen molecule, the carbon-based fog detected the presence of diamond-based molecules in a rudimentary way for the first time. Lau’s number two signalled Chou immediately.
Chou rubbed his hands together savoring the tension in Lau as the two of them watched Sue Ann Lee through the two way mirror in front of them.
“Now you will succeed where you have failed in the past. I need replenishments which last longer. Speed up the process or this one dies a slow death.”
“I’ve told you what happens when we speed up the carbon molecule’s lifespan. It makes it more robust, but the molecules die quicker. It’s an unfortunate arrangement which we can’t get around.”
“You’re hiding something from me. I can sense it.”
“Why do you think this journalist is important to me?”
“My fog’s telling me your nerve endings are reacting to seeing her there. Your emotions are too strong. Even you can’t hide emotions like that from my suit.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Let’s see. Come with me.”
A door opened beside the two way mirror. Sue Ann stood when she saw Lau. Her eyes lit up and sincere interest showed in her response to him. Even in these unpleasant circumstances, she found that she trusted him. Lau’s suit communicated to her using thought transference. He could see the way his messages soothed her.
“Diamond Rain,” blurted Lau.
The effect was instant. A bright flash of light passed between Sue Ann and Lau. Chou’s security molecules tried to intercept it, but the diamond molecular light easily sliced through their carbon-based structure. All at once Lau’s suit expanded and covered Sue Ann with a protective shield. Lau instantaneously reviewed the information on the message molecule.
“You’ve gone too far with these plans,” Lau said to Chou. “I’m taking her from your clutches and you can do nothing about it. My shield can protect us from any of your feeble attempts at piercing it,” he continued.
Lau turned his outstretched hand in Sue Ann’s direction. He gestured for her to come towards him and he instructed the fog to lift them both and transport them back towards his compound on the surface.
Chou fought with every technique he possessed and some he didn’t know he was capable of exerting. It was to no avail. Sue Ann and Lau moved at high speed and defeated every obstacle presented by Chou’s fog. Chou helplessly watched them leave. I should have killed him a long time ago. Soon.
As they disappeared, Chou sent a message to Lau’s second in command.
“The molecules?” he asked.
“We have them, and the fog container. What do you wish us to do with the Jew, Sir?”
“Confine him in case we still need his expertise. Do not harm him. Let him believe his imprisonment is only for security reasons and temporary; suggest that we will release him soon.”
The elevators took Sue Ann and Lau from the simple looking house on the surface to another underground entrance. Lau’s secure location was dug in shallower ground than Chou’s bunker but it was easily defendable. When they entered, Lau left a dense fog protecting the entrance and he smiled as he took a surprised but willing woman into his arms. Lau was confident about their safety and relaxed enough to feel at ease despite the threat of attack from Chou. The improved suit all but made them untouchable. His dream coming true perhaps clouded his judgment, but he couldn't resist showing his planned surprise to Sue Ann. Giving in to his excitement, he spoke up.
“Smell the miso,” he said.
“Sautéed scallops?”
“Your favorite, isn’t it? My mother’s preparing them right now. I have wanted to introduce you to her for so long.”
Thomas’ manipulations established the nature and development of Sue Ann’s relationship with Lau. Lau was so happy she responded to him with complete trust, he didn’t question the source of that trust. His suit indicated a warning sign, but Lau dismissed it. His human side could see no wrong with Sue Ann.
In turn, Sue Ann blushed at his attention. Christ, my cheeks are hot, she thought, but she took control of the situation and reached for Lau. They embraced. After a moment she pulled back from him and she followed her nose towards the pleasant aroma coming from the kitchen area of his secure home.
“What was Chou up to back there?” Sue Ann asked.
“He captured you to control me. He wanted to advance his plans for conquering the world. But enough of that talk for now. I have to do something more mundane, a family tradition. There will be plenty of time to talk of Chou after.”
Lau’s mother bowed stiffly and hobbled on puffy ankles but her smile welcomed Sue Ann in a way she had not experienced since she last visited her grandparents. Something inside her told her that this feeling was genuine and good. She reached for Lau’s hand and smiled at him as they squatted down to the low table. Then Sue Ann jumped up when she realized that Lau’s mother was going to serve them. Lau held her hand and nodded. He whispered in English so his mother would not understand.
“She’ll be insulted if you don’t let her serve us. She is from a small village. I told her you come from America. Just sit, please.”
The surreal aspect of sitting and eating a delicious Chinese meal underground in Lau’s secure location was not lost on Sue Ann, but she hadn’t felt this good for a long time. Her Chinese kept Lau’s mother laughing and the meal went well. Lau’s mother silently left the room to clean up and leave the young people to themselves. Her obvious contentment seeing her son happy meant as much to her as being brought to this compound from the wilderness where Chou had kept her for years.
****
In his own quarters, Chou was stewing in his temporary powerlessness in the face of Lau’s superior command of the nanosuits. He didn’t think the lack of power would last long; he had the key to world domination in his hands. A container that looked like a watch lay on the table in front of him. Through the two way mirror he watched the man who had just delivered him a diamond-based nanosuit.
“Open it,” said Chou to Lau’s second in command.
“It requires a thumb print, Sir.”
“Bring me his thumb,” said Chou. After a second or two he thought better of it and he raised his hand, halting the young man’s move towards the door.
“Wait. We will go to him and get him to open it.”
They walked out under a door which snapped into the ceiling and looked at Yatsick.
“Open it, please,” said Chou pleasantly.
Yatsick recognized the man in front of him. Anxious to give the impression that he was going to cooperate, he placed his thumb on the small pad on the watch. The fog filled the space between the men and Yatsick walked into it. The fog formed loosely around Yatsick and he looked at Chou. A derisive smirk crossed Chou’s face. Chou’s suit launched an attack that slid a band of carbon molecules around Yatsick’s neck. The invisible band tightened around Yatsick’s neck, choking him.
“This is no superior weapon. You take me for a fool?” asked Chou as Yatsick fell to his knees.
Lau’s second in command intervened.
“Sir, the molecules are authentic. It is just that this fo
ol does not completely control them. I suggest, Sir, we may need him to help us learn how to perfect our control of this new technology.”
Chou let Yatsick’s neck go and the young scientist rubbed his neck and took gulping breaths of fresh air before he tried to stand.
“Let me explain,” he said unsteadily.
Chou cut him off with a swipe of the air between them.
“We will go to the laboratory. You will perfect your knowledge and abilities in forty-eight hours and report back to me. Come.”
The three men left the cell and took the elevator to the testing section on level three. Chou led Yatsick to a testing facility complete with carbon-suited workers. They gave him a suit and communicated mentally. Yatsick plunged into the work, starting without even turning to look at Chou.
Chou took Lau’s second in command to the second level – his military operations headquarters.
“You have just assumed Lau’s command. What is your name Colonel?”
“Wu, Sir. I will serve to the death.”
“Colonel Wu, you told me you know something about Lau’s replenishments. Spit it out.”
“Sir, Lau is too careful. He frets about hurting the men in the suits.”
“How would you change that?”
“Accelerate the size of the replenishments, Sir.”
“What about the toxicity caused by faster consumption of the carbon molecules?”
“There’s no scientific basis for Lau’s fears. It could take years for the suits to become toxic. Once we take over the world’s assets, the death of some of our soldiers in their suits is unimportant.” He grinned. “Soldiers die in wars, Sir. It’s a fact of life."
“You are my kind of man Wu. Keep up the good work. When can we renew our attacks?”
“I took the liberty, Sir, of ordering supercharged replenishments. Our drones in America and Europe are in the sewer systems of every city where our ‘walkers’ need seeding. Since the authorities in the west started tracking and knocking out our aerial drones I have perfected the distribution process so that it rises in mist from the ground. The aerial fleet is still in the air, but they are a ploy meant to distract.”
“Launch them, Colonel Wu.”
“War needs only your finger to press the enter button here after we both turn these safety keys.”
In cities all over Europe and America a misty fog rose from the sewer systems while the authorities busied themselves with chasing down air launched drones. Chou’s ‘walkers’ came to life and headed to the financial districts in every city. They seized control of the monetary system and started the process of transferring all of the wealth of the world’s financial districts to China. Chou had won.
Chou watched the plasma screens all around the room. The stock and bond exchanges of the world closed one after another. Traders were jumping from windows in the downtown centers of every major city in the world. Not since Black Monday in 1929 had the world seen such a fast moving contagion. Within days unemployment in the west would create havoc.
Diamond Rain
Lau tried to leave his compound but found Chou had managed to replenish the guards near him and, though they could not defeat Lau, they could contain him. He went back into his home and opened a seldom used door into a duplicate control center, containing all of the systems he used in Chou’s headquarters. Lau watched the streaming news on his monitors. He’s done it. He’s collapsed the world financial system. He’s no more than a glorified bank robber. Sue Ann came up beside him and watched the news.
“He can’t be stopped, can he?” she asked.
Lau shook his head.
“There may be one way. Come with me.”
They went to Lau’s workstation. Lau sat and Sue Ann stood behind him holding his shoulders. His suit was typing for him at super speed and screen after screen popped up in front of them. After a few seconds, the Macaulay jpeg picture popped up and flashed.
“What are you doing?” Sue Ann asked.
“I won’t sit back and watch while a bank robber, a criminal, pillages the world financial system.”
“But what can you do?”
“My suit’s memory just opened backdoor pathways to every important nerve center in our computer system.”
“And?”
“Your friends have molecules that can enter our systems and smash Chou’s hold on the world monetary system.”
“What’s stopping you, then? Do it.”
“I wanted to do good with this power. I thought I could control Chou. Believe me. I’m not a monster.”
“I believe you, Zhang Wei.”
“No one calls me by that name, only my mother.”
Lau turned around and clicked on the mouse. The picture left the screen and made its way through Macaulay’s clandestine network of computers.
The file popped up on Macaulay’s phone. He was sitting in Ekaterina’s headquarters and he showed Jean Pierre first. The young systems genius jumped up and ran to get Thomas and Kefira. He barged into Kefira’s room without knocking.
“Sorry, but this is important,” he said, blushing from ear to ear at the sight of the two of them entangled in repose on the bed.
“What is it, Lanky?” asked Thomas.
“Lau opened the doors. Send the attack molecules before Chou manages to close the back doors Lau cleared.”
Kefira and Thomas both jumped up at once, their suits forming around them at their respective commands. They wrapped tentacles of brilliantly bright red and white light around him and swept Jean Pierre along with them as they passed through the walls to arrive in Ekaterina’s headquarters instantaneously. Lanky took a deep breath when they deposited him on a leather chair.
“You sure you can manage this?” asked Ekaterina.
“We're sure,” responded both Kefira and Thomas.
A swirling strobe formed in the room. It became concentrated and focused all of its energy on Macaulay’s phone. The phone leaped from the ex-Fenian’s hand and remained suspended in the air. A line of light penetrated the electronics and suffused the satellite connection to begin the journey across the Net. Macaulay tried to reach for his phone as it dropped through the air. He missed and it crashed onto the rug with a thud. Jean Pierre was typing wildly. Macaulay took advantage of the commotion to slip out. He had been coming and going freely so his departure didn't cause a stir. He winked at the young agent in the hairdressing salon, producing a blush and was gone.
“They showed me how they do it while I was inside the swirl. The math overwhelms me. I have to record it on my drive before I forget some of it,” Jean Pierre said, as he clicked on menus and typed frantically.
At that moment a plasma screen burst into life, showing the entrance to Lau’s underground home and headquarters. It was surrounded by Chinese ‘walkers’ struggling to breach Lau’s security. His energy field repulsed them again and again, but weakness, in the form of shimmering instead of solid glow, appeared to be spreading. Thomas and Kefira arrived in a blinding eddy just above the energy shield. The ‘walkers’ paused to evaluate the new arrivals, but before they could regroup, the two agents accelerated their spin again. Red and white light pulsed outwards in an ever more widening yet alternating shape. Shards in the shape of diamonds broke off the main form. They sought out the ‘walkers’ and tore holes in their auras, deflating them instantly, leaving them ordinary men, bleeding but not dead. Then the diamond shapes glowed red for an instant before they settled down. Thomas and Kefira, holding hands at arm’s length, appeared brilliantly lit in their suits, surrounded by an impenetrable aura.
Lau and Sue Ann emerged from the door of Lau’s underground lair. He recognized the molecular structure surrounding the two people in front of him and dropped his suit’s architecture without a question.
“Thomas...” said Sue Ann.
Thomas raised his right hand to stop her from continuing. Kefira followed suit. They both pointed their energy at the Chinese pair in front of them. A rush of light left their palm
s and encircled Lau and Sue Ann. It coalesced into two new suits appearing on the Chinese couple.
“Why have you done this?” asked Lau.
The reply took the form of an exchange of data. At first a trickle, it soon developed into an overwhelming flood. After a few moments Lau and Sue Ann were the wearers of the second diamond-based molecular suit in existence. The energy between them coalesced in the formation of an almost complete diamond suit. Though the molecules communicated that their union would make it stronger, its present power level was enough to confront Chou. They looked at each other and knew what had to be done. The rest could come later.
They reproduced the strobe pattern that Kefira and Thomas used it to drill down to Chou’s laboratory. There they found Chou standing with Colonel Wu and Yatsick.
“You!” shouted Chou. His exclamation came just before the darts of diamond light penetrated his aura, leaving him wounded but normal.
Colonel Wu touched his chest where the light had entered and blood squeezed through his fingers. He staggered but regained his balance. The wound was not mortal. It was directed at the suit he wore, not him.
Yatsick’s diamond molecules spun erratically around him, creating a cocoon that shone brightly as it lifted him through the levels and rock above him. He appeared on the surface near Kefira and Thomas. They repeated their swirling red and white light and projected themselves and Yatsick through the electronic connections in Lau’s underground headquarters to return via the Net to Ekaterina’s head quarters on Yona Street.
On screens all around the room and all around the world, every network was frantically reporting the news. Stories of the blinding light that escaped from every electronic communication gadget in the world, and which stopped the Chinese ‘walkers’ in their tracks, flooded every system. Monies stolen from the banking systems of the world started trickling back to the world’s monetary systems, slowly at first then in a cascading avalanche of returning funds. The monetary system demonstrated its traditional resilience by recovering almost overnight. Unemployment would take rather longer to recover, but recover it would. Chinese ‘walkers’, became just that, people who could walk. Confused by the changes in them, they headed unsteadily towards the port areas of each of the cities where they had once overrun the native population.
Diamond Rain: Adventure Science Fiction Mossad Thriller (The Spy Stories and Tales of Intrigue Series Book 2) Page 20