From the Shadows: The Complete Series

by KB Shaw

  “Safe from what?”

  “From simulations gone awry, from prying eyes and ears.”

  “Was the Mars simulation yours?” asked Cameron.

  “No.”

  “Was it something we did? Did we screw something up?” Rosa’s voice was contrite. “Are we in trouble?”

  “It was not of your doing, Miss Costas. In fact, most of the errors in your simulations, the ones you no doubt catalogued over Christmas break, were not your fault nor the fault of my engineers.”

  Cameron was working his brain like a gold miner’s pan, scouring and sorting his thoughts, which swirled around like so much sand. Suddenly, a wave of enlightenment coursed through him. The sand washed away, and he found a small nugget of a thought on which his mind could latch.

  He turned to Rosa. “Remember the logo on the multiCom? You know, the circles broken with the arrow?” Rosa nodded. “Well, don’t think of it as circles broken with an arrow. Think of it as one piece, as a design.”

  Rosa closed her eyes, visualizing the image. Slowly it took shape. “It’s a stylized G!”

  “It’s my signature logo,” said Sparks.

  Rosa was bursting with excitement. “Gund! Are you Mr. Gund… the GundTech Gund?”

  The man radiated with joy, his face brightening with childlike enthusiasm. He had surrendered his adult worries to this game of deduction and discovery. “Well, yes… and no.”

  “Then you’re an IHT-generated character and not the holographic image of the real Mr. Gund.”

  “Let me assure you, Miss Costas, this is really me. I think I know you two a little bit. You like puzzles, so I won’t give you the answer. If you can figure out who I am, you’ll be the first to have done it.”

  Taking up the challenge, completely oblivious to the strangeness of the situation, Cameron smiled and withdrew the multiCom from his pocket. “May I?”

  Sparks nodded. “Be my guest, Sherlock.”

  Cameron entered “GundTech” into the search window. The results indicated there were volumes of information about GundTech in the database. He had to narrow his search. He tried “Mr. Gund” with no results. That was odd. Cameron looked up at Sparks, who just smiled back at him.

  “Try corporate officers, or CEO, or president, said Rosa.

  None of the corporate officers, nor any of the board of directors, was named Gund. The president of the company was a Mr. Gus V-i-l-l-f-a-r-e-l-s-e. (Cameron didn’t know how to pronounce the name.)

  When, at Rosa’s prompting, they searched the word “founder,” all they saw was the standard information. GundTech was founded on the work of a child prodigy from Norway, whose aptitude for math, biology, and physics had broken new ground in computer theory and opened the door to practical virtual reality and artificial intelligence.

  As Cameron recalled the story, the boy genius was protected from public scrutiny so that he might lead a normal life. Cameron had an idea—more of a hunch than an idea, really. He hid the screen from the view of Sparks and Rosa as he tapped in V-i-l-l-f-a-r-e-l-s-e and entered the search command.

  “Whatcha putting in?” asked Rosa.

  Cameron raised a finger in her direction and said, “Just a sec.” He examined the readout. Along with the expected “president of the GundTech Corporation” came something unexpected, something very interesting.

  Villfarelse, Norwegian

  means aberration or illusion.

  “You’re Mr. Villfarelse, the president of GundTech,” started Cameron hesitantly, “but you aren’t, too.”

  “That doesn’t make sense.” Rosa objected until Cameron showed her the readout. “Then he really is an IHT character or an AI? GundTech is run by an AI!”

  Sparks laughed at the idea. “No, as I said, I’m real enough.” He turned to Cameron and put a hand on his shoulder. “Now Miss Costas has no way of knowing my name,” offered Sparks, “but one would expect to be remembered by someone to whom they’ve extended a helping hand.”

  Cameron’s eyes widened with realization—and shame—for he had failed to remember the gentle giant who pulled him to safety in the streets of Paris. He turned to Rosa. “The logo… It’s not a G for Gund! It’s two Gs!”

  Sparks nodded in acknowledgment as Cameron continued. “Rosa, I met him in your Time Tag game when I was trying to find Marie Curie. Remember, I told you about the carriage. Rosa, meet Mr. Gundersen, Gustav Gundersen—a man who likes puzzles and whose sense of humor, I suspect, came up with the idea of the red tape for our Academy applications.” Cameron watched Gustav’s eyes closely as he stated his assumptions, growing more confident as he went. “He was the man in the shadows at our interview.”

  Rosa’s eyes went wide with amazement. Gustav wagged an admonishing finger at her while confirming Cameron’s assertions with a nod.

  “And, if I’m right,” Cameron concluded triumphantly, “he is the man who invented the multiCom and the IHT.”

  “Guilty as charged,” said Gustav, extending his hand in introduction toward Rosa.

  “¡Mierda!” She offered her hand in kind and was struck by the firm yet gentle grasp of this extraordinary man.

  “Mierda, indeed!” He shook her hand and let out a hearty laugh—something, he realized, that he seldom did anymore. “Pleased to meet you, Miss Costas.”

  “R-Rosa… P-please call me Rosa, Mr. Gundersen.”

  “Only if you call me Gustav, or Gus, as you Americans sometimes prefer.”

  “I can’t wait to tell my friends that I’ve met…”

  “No, Cameron,” said Gustav, becoming serious once again. “You must tell nobody except your parents—not even your sister at the moment. My closest friend has only just learned my true identity. I do value my privacy, which I won’t have much longer, so please let me enjoy it while I can.”

  “We promise not to say anything,” said Rosa.

  “I knew my judgment wasn’t misplaced. I’ve been monitoring your progress because of something I’m working on, a very special project. And I have a proposal that I hope you and your parents will consider.”

  “A proposal?”

  “Yes, Cameron, I would very much like the two of you to be part of this project. I’m positive you’re the two for the job.”

  “Us?” It was more of a statement of Rosa’s amazement than a question.

  “I warn you, it will involve travel and will take quite a bit of time… uh… maybe your entire summer vacation, but you’ll be compensated handsomely for your effort. If you agree, your GundTech reps will arrange for you and your families to come to Oslo in a couple of weeks. We’re having a news conference then, and you’ll all be my special guests. I need to explain what I’m planning to your parents and get their approval in person. It’s much too sensitive—too important—to be done with the IHT.”

  Cameron and Rosa looked at each other for a moment, then turned toward Gustav and said, almost in unison, “Sure. You bet!”

  “Even your reps and most of my staff know nothing about this project, so don’t breathe a word.” Gustav Gundersen smiled broadly. “Just one more puzzle. To exit this program, just say where you think you are.” He reached into his pants pocket and withdrew an old fashioned chronometer—a pocket watch. “By the way, Cameron, I admire your choice of IDOs.” Then, with a wink, he vanished.

  The white light fractured into shimmering bands of color. They were within some kind of protective sphere. It was like being inside a rainbow. Slowly, the colors began to blend and melt, transforming into the most unique and special object in the solar system. It was a ball of blue and green and brown and white.

  “Earth,” said Rosa. The program continued.

  Rosa and Cameron zoomed toward a vast area of blue, speckled with white wisps. They fell through a white haze of water vapor and plunged beneath the surface of a warm, life-giving ocean. They saw fish, sea plants, turtles, and whales. The ocean became dark. In the distance they could detect rifts and vents of molten lava, boiling the water at the ocean depths. As t
hey got closer, they saw that, even here, there was life. Giant tube worms and other creatures seemed to thrive in this hostile environment.

  “The ocean floor,” said Cameron. Again, no response.

  “The Pacific Ocean,” said Rosa. Nothing.

  They rushed up from the depths at a dizzying speed and burst from beneath the waves to a vision of blue skies and puffy clouds. They leveled off a few feet above the ocean swells and their protective bubble raced toward an outcropping of land that rose from the expansive body of water. It was a sandy beach warmed by the rays of the sun.

  “Hawaii?”

  They hurtled onward and were overwhelmed by a wall of green.

  Green—a color not seen anywhere else in the solar system as far as Cameron could remember.

  Green—the color of plants.

  Green—the color of life!

  The land was covered with plants of so many types it amazed the young explorers.

  “The rainforest!”

  Still, they went on.

  Among the plants were animals of every shape and size. Everywhere they looked there was life! This most special place could only be one planet.

  “Earth,” Rosa repeated, with the same result.

  Cameron turned to Rosa with a knowing look on his face. He reached out and took her hands in his once more.

  Rosa remembered the Time Tag simulation. It was her birthday present to Cameron. She remembered the warm evening air, the sound of crickets, holding Cameron’s hand, and she knew the answer. With a good feeling in her heart, she smiled, closed her eyes, and softly said, “Home.”

  The program froze, and the lush green that had engulfed them dissipated. Cameron was looking at the image of his best friend on his wall-mounted multiCom screen. They were just two creatures in a remarkable world that was bursting with life.

  “See ya in class tomorrow, Rosa.”

  Rosa sighed, and smiled. “See you tomorrow.”

  The multiCom screen dimmed to black.

  Chapter 43:

  Revelations

  IT WAS April first. It was the day Gustav Gundersen had selected seven months earlier, and it stood as testament to his sense of humor. He would reveal his identity on April Fools’ Day.

  Media outlets weren’t told the purpose of the news conference. They knew only that it would be a live event, not an IHT simulation. Meagan Fletcher wanted to make it very clear to the world that the man she was presenting was, in fact, the genius behind GundTech and not some holographic phantom.

  A few special guests sat in the front row of the auditorium waiting for the news conference to begin. The Costas and Rush families had been flown to Oslo on the GundTech jet. After the historic introduction, they would meet with Gustav Gundersen himself so he could explain the summer project in which he hoped the two teens would participate.

  Upstairs, in the conference room, Gustav paced nervously, one eye on his multiCom screen as he watched the auditorium slowly fill with members of the media.

  Gwen Gundersen-Johanssen tried to comfort her brother. “Relax, Gus. Look at it this way. At least the charade will be over. That weight will be lifted in less than an hour.”

  Gwen turned to address the other person in the room. “Meagan, I was skeptical at first. I thought we should keep everything within the family, but you have done a marvelous job managing the release of Gus’s work. The world will probably never realize its debt to you. If things had been handled poorly, who knows what could have happened.”

  Meagan was overwhelmed and speechless. Her only reply was the flush of color that tinged her cheeks.

  “And what’s this meeting with those kids from the states?” asked Gwen. When Gus didn’t reply, she asked Meagan, “Has he told you anything?”

  “Not a word.”

  “It’s a secret. It’s all up here.” Gus tapped the side of his head with his finger. “You’ll know after we meet with Rosa and Cameron.”

  Suddenly, a low, menacing voice pervaded the conference room. “Gundersen!” it said in a deep, throaty rumble. The shadowy outline of a figure replaced the view of the auditorium on the screen. “You are going too far. You need to be stopped. Revel in your glory while you can, because I will destroy you. I’m in your system. You can’t stop me.” The figure faded into nothingness as the screen reverted to the live view of the conference room.

  “What the hell was that?” Gwen sat staring, unblinking, at the multiCom.

  Gustav shot a worried look at Meagan.

  “The threat from within,” said Meagan.

  “You know what this is about, Meagan? You both know?”

  “We are aware of it,” said Gus. “However, we, at least I, don’t know exactly what’s going on.”

  Meagan was caught off guard by Gustav’s comment. “Are you suggesting that I do know what this is all about?”

  Gus moved to face Meagan, gently taking her hands in his. “This is not an accusation, Meagan. Please don’t take it as such. I can’t explain how I know, but I’m certain you hold one of the keys to this whole affair. You just aren’t aware of it yet.”

  “What is it you think I know? Tell me.”

  Gustav embraced Meagan and spoke softly in her ear. “I have no idea, but I have confidence you will have the answer when it is needed.”

  “You said ‘one of the keys,’” said Meagan, pulling away. She wanted to make sense of what was happening. “You said I had one of the keys. Then who holds the other? You?”

  “No, not me. Them.” Gustav gestured toward the multiCom. It was focused on two empty seats in the front row of the hall, in the section reserved for guests from the United States.

  “Who? The kids?”

  Gus nodded.

  “Ridiculous!” said Gwen. “They’re just a couple of average kids who…” Gwen interrupted herself when she noticed an older couple being seated next to the American guests. “Look, Gus. They’re seating Mama and Papa. It must be time.”

  As she spoke, there was a knock at the door. “Five minutes, Ms. Johanssen.”

  “What do we do now?” asked Gwen.

  “We go on,” said Gus. “We can’t be intimidated or stopped by threats.” He stood tall and adjusted his suit. “Do I look okay?”

  Gwen managed a strained laugh. “Since when have you worried about how you looked?” She walked to her brother and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Good luck.”

  • • •

  THE PRESS CONFERENCE lasted almost two hours. Meagan Fletcher’s opening statement took only about five minutes of that time. She summarized the events of the previous eight months and thanked the press for their cooperation and their restraint from publishing wild rumors in such a critical time in the world’s history.

  “As a show of our gratitude, we want to give you a special treat—a surprise.” Murmurs of speculation ran rampant through the hall. “Ah, ah, ah!” said Meagan Fletcher, wagging a scolding finger. “What did we say about spreading wild rumors?” The audience laughed at her rebuke. “So, please let me introduce to you the former Director of Communications and current Headmaster of the IHT Academy, Gwen Johanssen.”

  The expectant audience offered courteous applause as Meagan retired from the podium and Gwen came to center stage.

  “I promise I won’t keep you in suspense. I’m just here to make a couple of introductions.” She motioned for her parents to stand. “These are my parents, William and Ursula Gundersen.”

  The press responded with polite applause but their expressions and exchanged whispers reflected their bafflement.

  Gwen nodded for her parents to sit. “I know you’re wondering why I took this occasion to introduce my parents to the world press. It will become clear in a moment.” She was overwhelmed with emotion. The cameras picked up the tears forming in her eyes as she spoke. “This is the proudest moment of my life, as I introduce to you, my brother—the creator of the multiCom and the driving force behind the new breakthroughs in quantum computing—Gustav Gundersen!”

>   The audience sat in stunned silence as the tall young man walked shyly onto the stage.

  Rosa and Cameron shot to their feet and broke into wild applause. They were followed closely by Gustav’s parents and their own families. Finally, the gathered media grasped the full impact of the introduction. As one, they rose to their feet and the hall swelled with the noise of an overwhelming ovation.

  • • •

  AFTER GUSTAV’S short speech, the stage was set with a table and chairs. Gustav, Gwen, and their parents took seats behind the table, and members of the media were invited to ask questions. Two hours later, Meagan mercifully put a halt to the inquisition.

  Chapter 44:

  Beginnings & Ends

  AFTER THE news conference, the Rush and Costas families were escorted to a luxurious, private meeting room on the top floor of the GundTech building. The spacious, round room was set up for dining. It was lit softly by candles mounted in crystal fixtures on the walls. Although the room had no windows, it was capped with a magnificent glass dome. The brightness of the full moon, framed within the dome, obliterated any view of the stars.

  As he entered the room, Cameron saw the silhouette of a bird—a falcon or a hawk of some kind—glide across the silvery disk of the moon and land atop the peak of the dome. As his gaze descended from the dome, Cameron noticed that the dancing flames of the wall lamps were reflected and magnified by the glass structure, focusing a pool of warm light on the table in the center of the room. He was awestruck by the sight.

  Gustav Gundersen was simply effervescent. The exhilaration of the day’s events pushed the dire warning of the phantom threat from his mind. He warmly greeted his guests as they entered, calling them by their first names, “Bernie… Esmer… Ed… Mary… Please have a seat. Enjoy! Tonight is a night for families and special friends! First we feast. Then we’ll talk about the future.”

  A waiter in formal attire approached Jenny and proffered a crystal dish. Jenny looked at the dish… then at the gentle giant of a man. She saw the merriment in his eyes and laughed as she took the small bag from the plate. “Peanuts!”