by Jacob Whaler
“Dead?” Kent couldn’t restrain himself.
“No, idiot. Not dead. They were all just standing there like statues in a wax museum. Not breathing, not blinking, not doing anything. So I took off running through the jungle and went right past a tiger. It wasn’t moving either. Scared the hell out of me.”
Kent blinks his eyes, like he’s coming out of a trance. “Uh, Little John?”
“What?”
“The only tigers in Africa are in zoos.”
“Whatever. I saw a predator and kept running, still scared, right off a river bank and plunged into the water. At that point, things started to move again. A half-dozen rubber rafts floated by full of Americans. A scientific expedition on its way back to civilization. They picked me up, and the rest is history.”
“Quite a story,” Kent says. “Now tell me about the Stone. How did it turn all those people and the predator into statues? If my son has one of those, I need to know how it works.”
Little John lets out a long sigh and finishes his beer. “It’s dark outside. Time for bed. We can talk later.”
“Talk later?” Kent stands up from the chair. “But what about the rest of the story? We just got started.” His eyes go to the Stone in Little John’s hand. “Tell me more about this mystical, amazing rock.”
“It’s a Stone. And I think you’re missing the point. You’re the one that’s going to answer my questions.” Little John yawns. “But that will have to wait for later. We’ve got a big day tomorrow?”
“What do you mean?”
“We’re leaving first thing in the morning, heading for a new freedom camp.” Little John walks to a cot. “Ryzaard knows you got away. He’ll be looking for you. We have to stay on the move.”
Kent narrows his eyes. “What do you mean, we?”
“Do you want to see your son again?”
“Of course I do.” Kent feels the old panic about Matt rear up again, searching for a way into his mind. “I’m going to start looking for him just as soon as you let me go.”
“You’ll never find him on your own.” Little John sits on the cot. “Ryzaard is going to be looking for him. And he may have a way to find him. If we don’t hurry, I’m guessing he’ll get to Matt before you do.”
“I’m guessing he’s dead. I threw a dagger into his chest.”
Smiling, Little John shakes his head. “Trust me, it’ll take more than a dagger to kill him.”
“What do you mean?”
“I watched the whole video of that room back at MX Global. I got a good look at Ryzaard. Did you?”
Kent closes his eyes, trying to recall the scene in his head. “He was fighting with another man, someone dressed in Shinto robes.”
“That’s right. Did you see what they were fighting with?”
“Some kind of laser weapon.”
Little John picks up the Stone and points it away from Kent. A thin blade of blue plasma rises out of its base.
“Look familiar?” he says.
Kent is wide-eyed. “Ryzaard has a Stone?”
“Not just one. He killed the Shinto priest and took his Stone. Now Ryzaard has two Stones and is much stronger.” Little John eases his body onto the cot. “He’s not going to stop unto he’s killed all the Stone Holders in the world and taken their Stones. Including your son’s. We don’t have much time if you want to see him again alive.”
The wall that Kent carefully constructed in his mind to keep out panic and fear suddenly crumbles. His pulse jumps and pools of sweat form under his armpits, drenching his shirt. Color drains from his face. Arms and legs tremble.
After a deep inhale, Kent manages to talk. “What do we do?”
“Only one thing.” Little John’s eyes drop shut. “Find your son before Ryzaard does.”
“How?”
Little John’s eyes fall to his Stone. “I know a way.”
CHAPTER 10
Matt and Jessica stand in stunned silence, staring at the motorcycle in the house.
“How did it get here?” Jessica says.
“No idea.” Matt shakes his head. “But I recognize it. It’s Naganuma’s. The old Japanese Shinto priest. He let me ride it once.”
Jessica reaches her arm around Matt’s waist and moves close to him. “Do you think he might be here?”
“Who?” Matt’s chest tightens. A sense of dread takes root, like someone uninvited has entered his perfect world.
“Naganuma or Ryzaard,” Jessica says.
“I don’t see how it could be Naganuma. Ryzaard killed him back in New York. I’m certain of it. I saw it. I felt his presence leave the room.”
Jessica looks slowly to her right and left down the dark hallways that spread out from the central room like wings. “What about Ryzaard?” Her voice is tinged with fear.
Matt walks away from Jessica to the motorcycle. “I’m not sure, but I don’t think Ryzaard’s here. He’s not the type to stay hidden.” Matt studies the machine, moving in a circle around it and being careful not to touch any part of it. “The last time I rode on this, it took me to Naganuma’s world. It must have a connection to him.”
Jessica moves behind Matt and stares at the bike. “My dad has a Harley. Ever seen it?”
“No.”
“He got it years ago. Likes to keep it in the garage out back. Only rides it once or twice a year.”
“Really?” Matt says. “I guess he’s too busy to have fun.” He bends down on one knee to look carefully at the spokes of the front tire.
“I remember when I was in junior high, he told me about a secret compartment on the bike. A place where you could hide a wallet or a jax. Right here.” Jessica bends down next to Matt and puts her fingers under the seat at the point where it connects to the gas tank.
Matt’s eyes bulge out as they follow her hand. “Jessica, don’t!” He springs forward and grabs her arm.
But it’s too late.
“There’s something here.” She pulls her hand back with a clear glass object between her index finger and thumb. “Looks like a memory cube.”
Matt’s eyes widen, and he lunges for Jessica, grabbing her around the shoulders, taking her to the floor and twisting so he lands first. His chest heaves in and out as he lies on the tatami with her on top. Sweat pours down his forehead.
Jessica snorts a laugh. “What’s going on?”
It takes Matt a few seconds to catch his breath. “You touched it. I thought you might disappear or something. This whole bike could be some kind of trap.” He sits up with Jessica in his lap.
“Or a message from Naganuma.” She twists around and holds out the cube. “What do you think this is?”
Matt opens his palm, and Jessica drops the cube into his hand. Closing his eyes, he holds his breath and braces himself.
But nothing happens.
His eyes open. He brings the cube close and inspects it. “Maybe it is from Naganuma.”
Jessica stands up. “I’m starving. I’ll go fix something for breakfast while you figure this out.” She kisses Matt on the top of the head and walks across the tatami into the adjoining room.
With the cube in his hand and still lying on his back, Matt probes it gently with a finger. “If we only had a memory device to play this,” he mumbles to himself.
Jessica’s voice floats in from the other room. “Maybe the motorbike is the player.”
The light bulb goes on in Matt’s head.
Why didn’t I think of that?
Getting back up on his hands and knees, he moves closer to the bike. Without touching it, he starts at the back tire and begins to pore over every inch, looking, searching.
Fifteen minutes later, he finds it.
“Jessica, come here,” he says.
She walks into the room smelling of eggs and bacon. “Breakfast is almost ready.”
“Look at this,” Matt says. “What do you think it is?” He points at a slot the size of the memory cube on the right underside of the gas tank.
Jessica le
ans over and scrutinizes the spot. “I think the cube will fit perfectly. Try it and see what happens.”
“Hold on. Don’t touch anything.” He retrieves the Stone from the adjoining room. “I want to make sure I have this handy.” He motions Jessica to stand back.
“Be careful,” she says.
With a trembling hand, he moves to the side of the bike and inserts the cube into the slot.
Nothing happens.
He looks over at Jessica and shrugs his shoulders. “Wrong again.”
Jessica’s hands go on her hips. “Get on the bike.”
“Are you serious? Why?” Matt arches an eyebrow.
“Maybe that’s how it works. Maybe you have to be sitting on the seat to trigger the playing mechanism.”
Matt shakes his head and grabs the handlebars. He throws one leg over and straddles the seat.
Immediately, the engine starts purring.
“Give it some gas.” Jessica shouts over the sound of the motor, mimicking the action with her wrist.
Matt gives the bike more gas, filling the room with light blue exhaust.
Jessica covers her mouth and nose and moves back.
The Harley’s headlight switches on and projects a moving image onto the wall.
Naganuma is at the top of the stone stairs leading to his Shinto shrine, next to one of the komainu statues that stand guard like a mighty lion dog. He has a small black book in his hand and slides it into a hole in the statue, covering the hole with a stone that fits perfectly into the opening. His actions are a little exaggerated, like he’s trying to show clearly where the book is hidden. He stares directly into the camera and moves his lips.
“What’s he saying?” Jessica shouts, loud enough for Matt to hear.
Matt watches the image of Naganuma on the wall, reading the priest’s lips. And then it becomes clear. “He’s saying the same thing over and over in Japanese. Baikku ni notte, koko ni kinasai. Ishi wo atsumeru jiki ni natta.”
Matt lets go of the gas and reaches under to remove the cube. A sharp pain runs up his hand, and he pulls it back. “Burnt my finger.” He turns the Harley off and steps onto the floor. White smoke curls up from the underside of the gas tank. “That’s strange. The cube’s gone. Vaporized.”
Jessica tilts her head to one side. “What did Naganuma say? In English.”
Matt can’t suppress the fear in his own face. “It was a simple message. Get on the bike and come here. It’s time to gather the Stones.”
“What was the little black book he hid inside the statue?” Jessica says.
“No idea,” Matt says. “But it must be important.”
CHAPTER 11
Ryzaard hears the footsteps coming closer.
Jerek Gray walks down the stainless steel corridor and enters the office. The meditation cushion is on top of the desk, and Ryzaard is sitting on it, legs crossed, looking out the window as dusk falls over the city.
“Any progress with the mobile cube technology?” Ryzaard doesn’t turn around or open his eyes.
“That’s why I wanted to talk.” Jerek stops in the middle of the office. “It’s mobile. Sort of. It all boils down to replicating the energy field. It looks like—”
A loud voice breaks through on Ryzaard’s jax, lying on the desk. “Dr. Ryzaard.”
“Yes, Diego,” Ryzaard says. “What have you found?”
“The location algorithm just got a positive hit on a Stone in North America.”
“Where?”
“The Midwest.” Diego’s voice trembles with excitement. “Iowa, to be exact. I’m getting the final coordinates now.”
“Excellent work.” Ryzaard hops off the desk. “Get your cube device ready, Jerek. I hope it will fit on an attack-heli. It sounds like Diego just found our first test case.” He rushes out the door without putting on his shoes.
Hours later, Ryzaard is strapping himself into the seat, next to the pilot. He turns to observe Jerek directing the workmen loading the large cube into the cargo bay. They secure it with carbon cables, making it look like a giant spider with a multitude of legs and an oversized belly waiting patiently at the center of its web to consume any prey that wanders too close.
Jerek jumps in, puts on his helmet and connects thick cables from under the cube to large canisters stacked in the back. The cargo bay doors slide shut, and he gives the pilot a thumbs-up sign. Taking a seat in the bay just an arm’s length from the cube, Jerek switches on the mic.
“Well, Jerek, it doesn’t exactly fit in my pocket, but it is mobile.” Ryzaard lets his head bob up and down in a sign of approval. “It will do for now. I think I’ll call it the Null Box. It nullifies the power of the Stones.”
Jerek nods. “With the power boosters, it’ll deactivate any Stone within a hundred meters, including yours I’m afraid.”
“You are a genius,” Ryzaard says. “Almost as brilliant as Diego. Isn’t that right, Diego?”
Diego Lopez looks up from the opposite side of the cube. “You’re the one who knew where to look. How did you decide on North America?”
“Just a lucky guess. And it is closest to our base of operations, giving us the most freedom of movement.” Ryzaard turns and faces the pilot, an ex-military type with a neat mustache and matching goatee. “How much time to the target?”
The pilot turns his helmet and visor to face Ryzaard. “One hour twenty-five minutes to the cornfields of Iowa, sir. It may vary slightly if the prevailing winds change.”
Ryzaard looks down at his jax. “That will put us there at 3:17 A.M. local time. Perfect.” He turns back to Diego. “Continue monitoring satellite image data. I want to know if they move an inch.”
Diego Lopez grins. “I’ll know the minute they scratch their chins.”
Ryzaard grins back and shoots his arm forward with a karate chop motion. “Time to fly.”
“Aye-aye, sir.” The pilot opens the throttle. Huge rotors overhead begin to spin, and the transport lifts off the roof of MX Global world headquarters, followed by four other identical units. They shoot up into the night sky and pass over the sleeping city with its collection of skyscrapers reaching up like tombstones.
It reminds Ryzaard of the old Jewish cemetery in his hometown in Poland so many years ago.
CHAPTER 12
“You can’t go by yourself.” Jessica’s eyes are red and pleading. “What if it’s a trap?”
Matt kneels down and checks the contents of his backpack. “I have no choice. It’s a message from Naganuma. I have to go get that little black book and see what’s in it.”
“But you said he was dead, that you felt his presence leave. Ryzaard has his Stone.”
“I know.”
“It doesn’t make any sense. How could Naganuma send his motorcycle to you?”
“Not sure. Nothing makes sense anymore. Maybe he had it set up to go automatically if his connection to his Stone was broken.” Matt stands up and moves into the next room with Jessica close behind. “It feels like something Naganuma would do. He could see parts of the future. Maybe he came up with this plan in case he died.”
“Then I’m coming with you.”
Matt turns. His arms fall around Jessica, and his voice drops to a whisper. “I don’t want to go, but I have to. Naganuma sent a message. It must have been important. A way to fight Ryzaard, if he’s alive. If I don’t go, something terrible will happen.”
“How do you know that?”
“I can’t explain. Just a strong feeling.”
“If you go, you might never come back.” Jessica pulls him closer. “I need to be with you. To protect you.”
“No.” Matt shakes his head. “You could get hurt. It’s too dangerous out there. You’re safest right here in this cozy little world of mine. Nothing can harm you here.”
“What if Ryzaard is still alive? What if he’s waiting for you? What if it’s a trap? What if you never make it back?”
“I will make it back.”
Jessica reaches down and weaves
her fingers into Matt’s hand, lifting it up to her lips. “Let’s just stay here, you and I, and enjoy this world. Forget about everything else. We could do that, couldn’t we?” She gazes up at Matt through her eyelashes.
His resolve weakens, just a bit, and he steels himself against her words. “Jess, do you know how long we’ve been here?” Matt thinks of days and days of skiing, exploring the jungle, swimming in the ocean, eating, sleeping, watching sunsets and sunrises, doing whatever they wanted.
She closes her eyes, and the long lashes float down. “I don’t know,” she says. “It’s difficult to remember.”
“Exactly,” Matt says. “What about your memories of our life before we came here?”
“I remember that Ryzaard almost killed us both, that we jumped out of that room and found ourselves here.”
“But what about your life before that? How are those memories doing?”
Jessica’s eyes move below closed lids.
Good, he thinks. She’s trying to remember.
With effort, Matt pulls up the memory of his mom and dad on that day at the beach. It’s still there, but it’s hazy, out of focus. The thought that he might forget scares him.
“You’re right,” she says. “My memories are fading, floating away. What’s going on?”
Matt picks his backpack off the tatami floor. “Naganuma told me that the flow of time in a world like this is different. It must be affecting our minds and memories. The longer we stay, the less attached we are to the world we came from. If we stay here long enough, we might forget everything and never jump back to Earth. And Ryzaard, if he’s alive, will have free reign. My dad. Your family. Ryzaard will destroy it all.”
“All the more reason for me to go with you,” Jessica urges. “I don’t want to be left behind.”
“Jess, I can’t risk losing you.”
“Then stay with me.” Jessica squeezes Matt’s hand. “You might never get back to this world. I could be stuck here forever. If you go, I go. It’s the only way. Nothing else makes sense.”
“I’m part of this world. It belongs to me. I won’t lose the connection. I’ll be back before you know it.”
Jessica turns around to face Matt. Her fingers dig into his shirt and close into a fist. “You’re reckless, Matt. You always have been. You don’t think things out. You just jump into action without a plan. From what you’ve told me, Ryzaard can track the Stones. The minute you go back, he’ll be on you.”