"It's a long story," Kevin finally said.
"I'll give you the recap later,” Jai promised Borda. Kevin raised his coffee cup, appreciating that Jai had spared him from summarizing the Patient X story. He’d just summarized everything for Sean, after all. "But, for now," Jai said, "if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go back to bed."
"Agh!" Borda cried. "Tell me now, please? Jai? Please!"
Jai walked up the stairs and threw Borda a wink, as Kevin ran back to what he was doing.
❖
On the way to meet the source in Central Park, Jai told Borda what had happened with Zin and herself. As before, she only kept two things to herself: her ability to project visions, and the telepathic power she had even when she wasn’t siphoning. Borda listened with rapt attention. He especially enjoyed it when Jai said she’d told Sean and Kevin that she was the Eldest. "Ha!" he scoffed, laughing. "I told Joy you could be the Eldest soon after I met her! I didn't buy it when Joy said she had you at 60."
So that's what Mom meant when she called Borda cheeky. Jai smiled. "You are known for your tact,” Jai said sarcastically.
He smirked. “Joy never did confirm or deny it, though. She just smiled and stared at me." Jai laughed. As in-your-face as Borda was, he had a thing with people smiling at him for prolonged periods of time; it made him extremely uncomfortable. He'd fidget in place before looking away. Joy must have picked up on it, and deflected him that way.
"Guys!" Sean called from the driver's seat. "Link your ghost devices." Jai pulled hers out, going through the motions even though her mind was already equipped with a built-in surveillance system. An extra piece of equipment won’t hurt, she reasoned. Besides, she needed to keep up appearances if she was going to keep her telepathy a secret. She peeled off the adhesive backing and positioned the electrical circuit inside the top of her sports bra, against her right breast. Slowly, the fixative seeped in, affixing itself to her body, and a thin, digital overlay quickly matched the shade of her surrounding skin. The entire device was invisible.
Borda held a ghost in the palm of his hand. "Can you believe people used to wear so many wires underneath their clothes, and listening devices that anyone could see?" He laughed and raised his t-shirt, slapping the ghost against his left pec. "Just a simple pat down and you'd be discovered."
“Yeah, if your profuse sweating didn't expose you already," Jai said. "So glad those days are over." Delicately, she applied the listening device, a small black dot attached to the small bit of skin, the tragus, near the opening of her ear canal. To the naked eye, it looked like a tiny mole. It linked flawlessly with the ghost on her body.
"Okay. We're here." Sean stopped the car at 57th St. and 6th Ave., near the Central Park South entrance, and let them out. He put the car in park and linked his ghost to theirs. "Check 1, 2."
"Check," Borda echoed.
"Ditto," said Jai as she stepped out of the car. "We've got a half hour. Let us know when you're there?"
"Yup, will do," said Sean, and he left to find a parking space.
Jai stood on the sidewalk, adjusting the straps on her racerback bra, and began jogging to the entrance, Borda beside her. She ran straight, beelining it to the coordinates listed in Mach's notes. Borda ran, literally, in circles around her. "You trying to make me sick?" Jai looked at him, amused.
"Just slowing myself down, trying keep pace with you. You and your short legs."
Jai laughed. "Yeah, 5 ft. 7. I'm so short."
“I’m 6 ft. 5. My neck hurts just craning down to look at you," he said. She stuck her tongue out at him. They arrived at the location, back a ways from the Pulitzer Fountain, people walking here and there. They walked to the nearest park bench and awaited Sean's arrival. Jai leaned against the bench, stretching her calves, as Borda ran in place, punching an imaginary opponent.
Moments later, Sean said, “I’m here.” Jai twisted, stretching to the left and right, and saw Sean jog into view. A man in sunglasses, 5’10”, jogged past him. “My left,” Sean whispered.
Borda and Jai watched as the man gave them a quick nod and continued running. They took a few more moments to stretch and jogged behind, following the man up Park Drive through the Mall. They ran under a row of elms, arched in a canopy above them, until he stopped at a bench. Sean continued running until he was out of sight. He stopped to listen behind an elm.
The man lifted his glasses, exposing light blue eyes, a shocking complement to his dark brown skin. He was more stunning than his picture. “I’m Adric Thompson.” Jai and Borda introduced themselves. “And Mach?” Adric asked.
“Just us two,” Jai said. She sensed Adric tense, as he scanned the Mall around them.
No other choice, he thought, and launched into it. “Well, I trust Mach, and he vouched for you. We have a small window here. I’ve only got one day left to decide if I’m in or I’m out. The sentient’s being transferred to Guantanamo.” He stopped short. “I mean, not Guantanamo, per se. Gitmo’s being reopened under a different name. It’s being revamped, switched to a new high-security prison for sentients only. Right now, security remains lax, but they’re installing new measures every day. I just began the recruitment process. I’m a transplant, from ADX Florence, in Colorado.”
“The Alcatraz of the Rockies?” Jai asked.
“Kaczynski, McVeigh…" Borda rattled off the names.
“The very same,” he said, nodding.
“So what’s the new palace called?” asked Borda.
He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I just know the Justice Department’s recruiting from the military, as well as guards from all the supermax prisons. I received special consideration with my experience in the National Guard and prior schooling at the Naval Academy. The latter’s how I know Mach. Well, I didn’t really know him, know him, when we were at the Academy, but I knew of him. He was two years ahead of me, top of his class. I recognized him from an interview, for his work with the Division. I figured, if anyone has the connections to get to the bottom of this, he does.”
“What’s your stake in it? Aren’t you biting the hand that feeds you?” Borda asked.
He shook his head, his eyes still darting around them. “This isn’t your standard recruitment. They’re forcing all the recruits to submit blood samples, to see if we’re sentient or not. I’ve never been tested.” Jai’s mind flooded with visions of a car accident, scrapped metal, and an X-ray of a femur, broken clean across his right thigh. Reset, it’d healed in one day. Jai understood before he said it: “I don’t need to be tested. I know I’m sentient.”
“So you’ve got the experience and the pedigree. You’re a shoe in,” Borda stated the obvious.
“Yes, but I don’t know if I want to be. Listen, they may want sentient guards in there; and, I’ve guarded, even subdued, some of the most notorious, dangerous criminals this nation’s ever seen. But, this isn’t just a triple max facility. We’re not even talking Camp X-Ray or Delta, here. It’s not like any of the prior Camps."
“Could it really be worse, though?" Jai was skeptical. "At Gitmo, they didn’t even call the inmates 'prisoners.' They called them ‘detainees,’ with no charge, no trial. The world’s come a long way. Remember the uproar, the international backlash, the first time around? It took decades, but the government closed Gitmo eventually. Would they really backpedal, re-invite that level of worldwide scrutiny, especially when U.S. citizens are involved?”
“I don't know. In this case, the citizen's sentient, so it's an entirely novel enterprise. Of course, it will take a lot to contain some sentients. I’m comfortable with taking extra measures. If I weren’t okay with punishing criminals, I wouldn’t be working in this business. But, I’ve toured the Camp. Even unfinished, I can tell this isn’t like any facility I’m used to. It’s not even like the Guantanamo that's been photographed in days past. There are no open yards; no separate solitary wing; just row after row of solitary confinement. No windows, nothing. I didn’t see any communal showers or lavatories. No
double rooms or beds. They’re fortifying the walls, too. Some type of strange material, not like any concrete or metal I’ve seen before.”
Jai searched Adric’s mind for any memory, any vision of what he’d seen during the tour. The new structure was like a maze, row after row of solitary rooms, just like Adric had described, with no sound or other marker to indicate which rooms were occupied or not.
Borda got to the point. “But, it’s the torture that really bothers you.”
The prospect bothered Jai too. “Gitmo has drawn the ire of many a justice campaign.”
Adric listed the accusations. “Sensory and sleep deprivation…those have been around ever since solitary confinement came along. But, we’re also talking water-boarding; stripping them naked; using guard dogs to scare, maybe even bite them; subjecting them to extreme temperatures; mock executions; severe stress and humiliation; physical, even sexual, assault.” Adric’s eyes hardened. “Of course, I didn’t witness anything like that during the tour, but I did see gags; black-out goggles; noise-canceling ear muffs; mittens and masks to cut off touch and smell; a vast array of shackles.”
“That’s a lot of inventory for one sentient,” Borda said sarcastically.
Adric agreed. “This isn't a party for one. They’re hiring a lot of personnel to guard and run the facility. They may be reopening it, christening it with a new name; but, if it’s anything like its predecessor, they’re going to cross a line I’m not willing to cross.” He looked down. “Even the medical equipment, the sheer scale of it, doesn’t strike me as normal.”
“Normal?” Borda laughed. “It won’t be. Testing’s going to be ‘rinse, lather, repeat,’ with every poor son of a bitch who enters those gates. This sentient, this Club O culprit, is just the first guinea pig. They’re gonna test him until he breathes his last breath.”
Jai said, “And, who knows how long that would take?” The question hung, unanswered in the thick, hot air. They all knew the answer was in decades, maybe well over a hundred, if not hundreds, of years. But, the true amount of time hardly mattered. Time would stand still for that sentient. Each second of torture would feel like an eternity, especially if he was sensory-deprived. She felt her body tense; all of theirs did.
Adric shook his head forcefully. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if someone turned out to be innocent.”
Jai understood. “It wouldn’t be the first time a prisoner was exonerated in our criminal system.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time torture led to a false confession, either,” Adric said.
“You sure you want to dive into this, then?” Borda asked. He wanted more than anything to get in there, to question the sentient and find out who directed the Club O video. But, Borda was prepared to risk everything, even his life. I'm going to stop the murderers, the deplorables who killed my parents, he thought. No matter the cost.
But, Adric had much to live for. In Jai’s mind, she could see through Adric’s eyes: a young girl; a wife, herself a prison guard; and, a lovely home. Sunday dinners with two older brothers, nieces, nephews, and parents old with age. Adric had many reasons to think twice.
“There may be no going back,” Borda warned.
“I know.” Adric looked up at the bright blue sky filled with white, cumulous clouds. “But, I also vowed to serve my country. I love America. So, even if I have to oppose what the government’s going to do, I’ll take the risk. I'll go undercover, if it’s right for all of us…for humans, sentients, all the world.”
He took a deep breath and looked them square in the eyes. “We’d have but one shot. They'll call me with the test results. They'll tell me I'm sentient positive, and offer me the job. If I accept, they'll call me to guard the sentient's transfer, tell me the details for pickup and drop off. We’ll have just one day.”
“One day.” Borda considered it carefully. One day and this man’s entire life could change.
Adric continued. “The sentient's supposed to be housed in the new southeast wing. At least, that’s what I heard when I visited last time. So, your best chance to talk to him will be on the transfer boat. The best I can do is disable a security sensor…maybe a few cameras. After that, you’d be on your own.”
Jai looked at Borda, who was nodding at her. She turned back to Adric. “The two of us are in, but….”
Adric cut her off, a vision of his daughter, wife, and family flooding his mind. He turned to Jai, a look of determination in his steely, blue eyes. “I have to know. I have to see it for myself. If this is where our country’s headed, none of us are safe. You two can meet me aboard the ship.”
Chapter 39
2121
The next week, Jai, Borda, and Sean waited for Adric's call. "Do it again!" Kevin said, enthusiastically. "Slower, if you can."
Jai closed her eyes, then reopened them, her eyes glowing pink, then fuchsia, to a deep, majestic purple.
"That's fucking awesome!” Borda said. He watched as Jai's eyes were projected onto a 140-inch video-link, suspended in the air. He shook his hands roughly through his messy, spiky hair.
"Now, that leaves only red and black. The last two colors we haven't recorded," Sean said, referring to Kevin's lab notes. Kevin whipped the monocle off his head and placed it down on the countertop. He rubbed his eyes. Sean, Borda, and Jai had been going non-stop since their meeting with Adric, helping Kevin with his research, and trying to pass the time while they waited for Adric’s call.
Borda collapsed on a stool and swiveled himself around. He stopped abruptly, then bounced his knees rapidly up and down.
"Would you stop that?" Sean flung a pen at Borda and groaned. “Adric better call us soon."
“He better.” Borda admitted, "I'm going stir crazy."
Even Jai was beginning to feel it, the pressure mounting, little by little, like a hair trigger about to go off. "Didn't Adric say he was just waiting for last week's test results?"
"It would only take a few days, max," said Kevin.
"Then, what's the hold up?" Borda said, disdainfully. "Adric better not chicken out."
There was no way he would, unless something serious had happened. Jai had glimpsed too much of his life to doubt him. Just then, the phone rang.
The Home screen flashed on, with Adric's number suspended above them. Borda couldn't wait. "Home. Answer it, no video," he said, immediately.
"Hi, Jai," Adric said.
"Hey, Adric. How've you been? I'm here with Borda."
"Hey, Borda. We're all set. I'm flying out, taking a red-eye tonight. And, I was right. The sentient will be housed in the southeast wing. Your best bet will be when the ship docks."
"Getting that close without being detected won't be easy," Borda said.
"We lucked out there,” Adric said. “There will be a lot of unfamiliar faces around…they're holding a press junket at the southeast wing. They'll announce the reopening before they launch him in, cameras rolling."
"That doesn't give us much time," Jai said.
"You'll only have maybe ten minutes on the boat before he's hauled out."
"We need to maximize that," Jai said. “Our man Sean can captain us. Once we arrive, Borda and I can wait in the water for your ship, then climb aboard. We can bring press badges with us, in case we're stopped or questioned."
"Good idea. I doubt anyone will even notice you," Adric said. "The detention center will be crawling with news reporters. And, unlike the past, the government wants the press there for the opening. Of course, the press won't be allowed inside, but the government wants the press to see the first detainee up close and personal as he's being brought in. It's proof the government's taken the Club O incident seriously, that there's some progress since it's happened."
Sean listened intently as Adric described the dock near the new southeast wing. The new construction extended the wing far out to sea, and it was nearly complete. When the call ended, Borda rubbed his hands together. "It's finally happening," he said, cracking his knuckles.
&n
bsp; "Let's get packing," Jai said. Borda helped her load the gear onto a stealth submersible, the latest developed by Jai’s company, Ascendant Technologies. Sean was eager to take it out for a spin. He charted their route, while Kevin retreated to the lab.
When they arrived the next day, Jai and Borda swam out of the sub and were soon bobbing beside the dock. Voice deep, Borda told Sean, “The eagle has landed.”
“Good,” Sean said. “Adric’s ship should be docking soon." Sean set the sub to standby, ready to bolt in case things went south. Stealth mode let them elude the most advanced radar systems while, at the same time, they could detect the precise location of any encroaching object. From the sub, Sean could see Adric's ship on a virtual display. It came into view, long before Jai and Borda could see it. "Ship's here," Sean said. "Your six."
Jai and Borda looked to the horizon and set their suits to invisible mode. Immediately, their suits mirrored their surroundings, even as they swam in the water. Jai donned her mental cloak for added protection. And, just as Adric said, his ship came to a stop. As the guards began to moor the ship, Jai and Borda climbed aboard from the other side. Jai angled her ear to the right, toward the center of the ship. She listened closely for any sign of the sentient's location. Silence. So, she scanned the ship with her eyes. Squinting, her eyes began to shift to a pale, then vibrant, red. Suddenly, the walls of the ship began to fade from view, a mere glowing outline in their place. Jai whispered, “There!" and pointed in the right direction. She could see the sentient, chained to a chair, in a backroom, port-side.
Borda looked at Jai strangely. How the hell would she know? she sensed him question. The ship's massive. She waved her hand at Borda, not bothering to answer his thoughts. Later, she’d have plenty of time to think about this strange, new skill. Now, they needed to rush to the room where the sentient was. Jai ran with Borda close behind. In less than a minute, they were huddled together, side by side. Jai leaned around a corner, and saw Adric guarding the door. She released her cloak for a moment, and whispered to Adric in her mind. Adric, she called to him. He turned to nod at her, then looked both ways before opening the door. Jai and Borda crept inside, and Adric closed the door behind them.
Obsidian: Birth to Venus (The Obsidian Chronicles Book 1) Page 25