by Jacob Whaler
“Sorry.” He pulls himself up and slumps into a sitting position, dropping his head onto the edge of the table.
“Good to see you all working so hard.” As Ryzaard talks, he reaches for the pack of black Djarums and extracts one with his lips.
Diego lifts his head up and cracks open an eye. He stares at Ryzaard through dark eyebrows. “Please, no.” Then his voice lowers to a whisper. “Not those again. I need to breathe.”
Ryzaard smiles, strikes a match on a leg of the table and brings it up to the cigarette protruding from his lips.
“My apologies.” Ryzaard fills his lungs as relaxation spreads out through his muscles. His head drops back, and a line of gray smoke shoots up, disappearing in a vent in the ceiling. “You’ve done well, all of you. What you’ve accomplished in the last few months is nothing short of a miracle.”
“When will we be able to sleep?” Kalani yawns, elbows on the table, his chin resting on the white palms of his hands. “I can’t function on no sleep.”
“Lack of sleep is a simple problem. One for which science has a simple chemical solution.” Ryzaard’s eyes scan the table.
“No thanks,” Jing-wei says. “I’ve already had too much of that particular solution. It’s starting to give me waking hallucinations.”
Elsa raises her hand. “Please, no more.”
“Enhanced Wake Formula Five.” Ryzaard lifts his eyes to the ceiling.
A fine white mist falls from tiny holes above them and slowly settles to the level of the table like a gentle snow.
Diego raises himself to an upright position, his eyes open in spite of the dark rings below them. “Diego Lopez.” The shakiness drains out of his voice. “Reporting for duty.” His hand goes up to his forehead at an angle and drops crisply, saluting Ryzaard.
“Always makes me hungry.” Kalani’s eyes survey the table like a caged jaguar.
“I’ll have them bring up sushi and ramen.” Ryzaard blows out a horizontal blast of smoke. “After we’re done.”
General stirring moves through the room as lungs fill with the vanilla aroma of the white mist.
“That’s better,” Ryzaard says. “Now let’s get down to business.” He stands up, holding the black cigarette between his fingers.
“I know I push you hard. Take it as a compliment. You’re all so capable. Let’s have some reports on our progress. And then you can all take the rest of the day off to relax.”
“How can we relax now that you’ve got us all addicted to illegal Russian wake drugs?” Elsa takes a thin pack of cigarettes from a pocket and pulls one out with trembling fingers. As it touches her lips, the end glows red and a delicate line of smoke curls away. She inhales, settling back into her seat.
“The world situation is delicate.” Ryzaard’s palms go to the table. “Rio de Janeiro’s seawall has been breached. All its beaches and most of the city is under water. As a result, Brazil has joined Argentina in declaring war on China. Just the most recent manifestation of the sickness that plagues the world. It cries out for our help.”
“Cyber-wars are a dime a dozen. Nothing to worry about.” Kalani pops something long and blue into his mouth. “When is the sushi coming?”
“When our business is finished.” Ryzaard turns to the right, looking past Alexa, who is being unusually quiet, to Jerek. “You go first.”
“There’s not much to tell, really.” Jerek picks up the cube he brought with him, fingers dancing on its blue surface.
“Don’t be modest.” Ryzaard’s arms open up, motioning at the lab. “Your work has made all of this possible.”
“The Amplification Protocol needs some work, but the basic theory is sound. Reliability is one of the issues I’m trying to address. It still cuts out from time to time.” Jerek juggles the cube between his hands. “I’m developing a portable model to replace the roomful of equipment next door.”
“Your Amplification Protocol is the best news we’ve had in months. Its feedback loop has boosted the predictive power of the Stones by two levels of magnitude. No need for live captives like Little John anymore. The days of having to unite with another Stone Holder to produce greater power are past. With the Amplification Protocol, you’ve made my Stones act as if they were united. No small achievement. As always, science provides the answer. Excellent work.” Ryzaard walks around the table past Jerek and stands behind Elsa. “Now let’s hear about the financial backbone of our entire operation. Elsa, you have the floor.”
Elsa’s palms drop to the table and pick up the slate in front of Kalani. With a swipe of a finger, its blue water surface goes blank.
Kalani grips his club. “Hey, you can’t just—”
“Our trading operations have recovered from prior setbacks and reached a new and delicate phase thanks to the science geek.” Elsa glances at Jerek and nods, coming as close to paying him a rare compliment as she ever has. “I won’t bore you with the details. We’re trading every stock, commodity, currency and derivative market on the planet. We’re involved in major gambling ventures, from Macau to Moscow to Las Vegas. Our activities have generated a massive bubble that has gripped financial markets. With the predictive power of the Trading Algorithm, we can and will sustain the bubble for months, bleeding the rest of the world dry.” Elsa pauses and closes her eyes. She takes a deep inhale from a cloud of floating mist. “Recent world events have created even more instability and distrust between nations. A day rarely passes without a new threat of war, cyber or otherwise, in some forgotten corner of the world. The markets are going wild. Chaos is our friend.”
Ryzaard beams. “What is the current level of our profits?”
“In excess of 750 billion IMUs.”
Jing-wei turns to stare at Elsa. “Per month?”
“Per day,” Elsa says.
The usual fumbling of jaxes and slates at the table goes silent. Ryzaard stands behind Elsa, his arms folded across the lapels of his tweed suit.
Kalani drops his club on the table and leans in close to Elsa, his mouth open. “With money like that, we should be wolfing down sushi by the ton. Why are you only paying me—”
“An annual salary that exceeds the market value of all 176 islands of the Independent Republic of Tonga.” Elsa pushes Kalani back into his chair. “Don’t complain. That’s more than enough for you.”
“Enough is never enough.” A long string of saliva drips off the tip of Kalani’s tongue. “But the real question is, how can we hide that much money?”
“If the extent of our operations and profits were known, the market would immediately collapse and the game would be up.” Elsa’s eyes drift up from the slate. “In essence, the market, every market on the planet, has become our captive. The challenge now is to keep it that way. Don’t worry. I’m not going to kill the duck that lays the golden eggs.”
“That’s goose, but no matter.” Ryzaard says. “Our cash flow is adequate for the present. The time is not far distant when the whole concept of money will no longer exist. In the meantime, keep it going any way you can.” He walks a couple of paces to the right and reaches to pick up Kalani’s club, running his thumb along the embedded shark teeth. Specks of dried blood float to the floor. “How is our resident hunter doing with his Mesh-running?”
Kalani swivels in his chair and looks up at Ryzaard standing directly behind him. “It took a couple of months to repair the damage done by Little John before he died. Getting back into high security US military Mesh-points was easy. Same with the Euro Zone. The real challenge was hacking the quantum-encrypted Chinese datasites.” With a flash of his hands, he pulls his slate out of Elsa’s fingers, gives the slate a hard shake and wipes her data off the screen. “Thanks to Jing-wei, and the four new dedicated cluster systems she found for me, I broke through last week.”
“Don’t worry, with all your celebrations, we all heard about it.” Elsa reaches for the slate, but Kalani is too quick. “I’m surprised the Chinese don’t already know.” She shoots an eye dagger at Jing-wei.
“Wait,” Kalani says. “There’s more. Turns out that most non-Western governments get their encryption protocols from Chinese sources. And the Chinese have direct lines into every client Mesh-point.”
“In other words,” Jing-wei chimes in. “When we broke the Chinese codes, it gave us access to hi-value government Meshfiles on half the globe.”
Staring at them, Ryzaard parts his lips. “Incredible. I’m impressed with your achievement. A welcome development.”
Kalani winks at Jing-wei, drawing her attention. His eyes open wide. He forms words with his lips in silence.
Shall we tell him the rest?
Jing-wei shakes her head slowly back and forth and mouths a reply back.
No way. Too dangerous.
Ryzaard catches her response out of the corner of his eye.
CHAPTER 8
Yarah sits on the thick bearskin cushion in front of the fireplace, eyes red, cheeks wet and puffy. An endless fountain of tears rolls down her face to the floor. She jumps up and runs full speed to Matt, slamming into his body.
He staggers back and holds the trembling little girl tightly in his arms.
“Please don’t go,” Yarah says. The words come out one at a time, separated by great gulps of air. “Don’t leave us here alone. Please.”
Matt looks over at Jessica, eyebrows drooping at the corners of his face. She nods. Matt brings his hand up and gently strokes the back of Yarah’s head, running his fingers down her black hair.
“We have to go.” Matt looks into Yarah’s eyes. “But we’ll only be gone for a little while. A few hours. We’ll come back as soon as we can.”
“I don’t understand. Why do you have to go?” Leo slouches in a chair on the other side of the room. “We’re happy here, aren’t we?”
Matt’s eyes find Jessica. She nods again. He looks back to Leo and Yarah.
“Listen to me, kids. I don’t want to scare you, but there’s something I need to show you. All of you.” Letting his gaze drift one more time past Jessica, Matt swallows as his hand goes under the chair and comes out with the clear cube and the green jewel floating inside.
Please don’t kill me, Jessica.
When Yarah sees it, she pushes away from Matt. All the color drains from her face.
Leo’s jaw drops. “Where did you find it?”
“In Ryzaard’s office,” Matt says.
“What?” Jessica leans closer, the smile dropping from her face. “You went to Ryzaard’s office?”
Yarah backs away, shaking her head, eyes moving from face to face. “That means he might have tracked you. He might know where we are. He might come here.” She drops to her knees on the floor, legs and arms trembling.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jessica’s face is as pale as Yarah’s.
“Look,” Matt says. “He didn’t track me. I was careful. He wasn’t even there. After I left his office, I jumped to my world first before coming here. I found this cube in a hidden spot, under his desk. Any idea what it is?”
Leo nods. “It’s an implant. The same one Ryzaard used on Little John to control his Stone. And me and Yarah. It was horrible.”
Eyes still fixed on the cube, Yarah’s whole body is shaking.
Jessica takes the little girl into her arms.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell any of you.” Matt’s eyes sweep past Jessica, picking up a hint of anger in her face. “But I didn’t want to worry you.”
“And what did you find out?” Jessica says.
“Not much. I was only there for a couple of minutes, long enough to find this. One thing’s for sure. Ryzaard is moving forward, building momentum.” Matt studies the cube. “So this is an implant for mind control. Makes sense. I saw something similar on Ryzaard’s world when he took me there. People with a little jewel behind their ears. I wonder if that’s what he’s planning on doing on Earth.” He drops the cube into a backpack near his feet.
“Makes sense,” Jessica says.
Yarah’s body relaxes. “Don’t leave us here. I want to go with you.” She pleads with her eyes.
Matt shakes his head. “It’s too dangerous. We can’t take that risk. You and Leo will be safer here.” He sits in a huge chair, sinking into the soft cushion.
Leo stands up and turns his back to Matt. His body shakes with silent convulsions that can’t be hidden. When he finally speaks, it’s clear he’s trying to control a wave of emotion rolling through his body.
“We’ll be OK.” His fingers grip his Stone with white knuckles. “I’ll take care of Yarah. It’ll be just like back home in the favela before you came. Without a mom and dad.”
Yarah shakes her head violently. “No. I don’t want it to be like that. I hate the favela. I hate the Forbidden City where we used to live. I want a family. A mommy and daddy.” She stares first at Matt and then at Jessica. “Won’t you be my mommy and daddy?”
Smiling at the little girl, Matt catches her eyes with his. “What am I thinking, Yarah?”
She brings two tiny fists up to her eyes and squeezes out the tears. Then she puts her hands together and looks at Matt like she is reading the headlines on a slate newsfeed.
“You want me to be safe. You want me to be happy. You want to be my daddy. But you have to go. You need to help other people, too. You want me to be a big girl and take care of Leo.”
“That’s right,” Matt says. “Do you understand?”
Yarah nods her head up and down, big tears beginning to well up again. Her eyelids drop shut like tiny trap doors. Two wet lines race down her cheeks on parallel tracks and splash onto floor.
Without saying a word, Yarah slips out of Jessica’s embrace, walks over to Leo and wraps her arms around him from behind.
As he stands up from the chair, Matt glances at Jessica and walks across the room to Yarah and Leo, bending and engulfing both of them in his arms.
“I know it’s hard,” Matt says. “But you’ve got a whole planet to play with here. You’ll be safe. Build me a ten thousand–mile-long mountain range with lots of snow. When we get back, I’ll teach you both how to ski.”
Jessica moves to the opposite side of Yarah and Leo and wraps her arms around them. “Just remember to be careful.” Her hands reach up to pat Leo on the head. “And patient.”
Leo’s body stiffens and his eyes drop to the floor. “How long will you be gone? Will it really be just a few hours?”
Matt drops his arms and doesn’t say anything. Jessica glares at him, moving her lips.
Tell him. Be honest.
“Leo, here’s the deal.” Matt reaches out for the boy’s shoulders and slowly turns him so they are looking eye to eye, man to man. “Time passes differently back on Earth. A day there might be a week here. Or vice versa. I just don’t know. Jessica and I are going there to have a quick look, figure out what’s going on. We’ll jump back as soon as we can. We could be back in a couple of days or a couple of . . .”
Leo raises his eyes from the floor. “Weeks? Months? What about Ryzaard?”
“That’s exactly why we can’t take you and Yarah with us. We just don’t know what we’ll run into.” Matt tries to look as matter-of-fact about it as he can so Leo won’t sense his fear. “Ryzaard doesn’t know about this world, so he can’t come here. This is the only place you and Yarah are safe. That’s why you have to stay. Jessica and I will get back here as soon as we can.”
“What if he’s waiting for you?” Leo’s face moves from Matt to Jessica. “You may never come back. What then?”
Matt’s jaw goes taut. “That’s not going to happen.”
Leo shakes his head. “You can’t be sure.” His gaze drops to the floor again. “I could lose you and Jessica just like I lost my mom and dad.”
“We’re going to be careful.” Matt touches Leo’s chin and pulls it back, bringing the boy’s gaze up from the floor and doing his best to
smile.
“But no guarantees, right?” Leo’s jaw comes together. A lone tear streaks down his face.
Matt tries to speak. He turns to Jessica for help. Her lips move silently
Be honest.
“No guarantees in life, Leo.” Matt turns his face back to the boy. “We all just do the best we can.”
“We’ll wait one moon cycle, but no longer.” Leo swallows hard.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean if you don’t come back for a whole month, Yarah and I are coming after you.”
“But Leo, we can’t be sure about the differences in the passage of time. You can’t—”
“One month.” Leo’s jaw tightens. “Period.” He looks up at Matt and stretches out his hand. “Deal?”
Matt looks over at Jessica again. She nods.
“OK. Deal.” He reaches his hand out to Leo and shakes in a tight grip. “One month.”
Yarah stands between Matt and Leo, looking back and forth between their faces. A smile spreads across her face. She reaches for Leo’s hand.
“Where will you be going?” Leo says.
Matt puts his hand in his pocket and pulls out the Stone, tossing it up and down, judging its weight. “Stanley Park.” He moves his arm out for Jessica and pulls her close. “Vancouver, British Columbia. Near the ocean. Just like Little John told you. They’ll be expecting us, right?”
Leo nods his head. “Little John promised Yarah and I that he’d find a way to send a message to the freedom camp there, to let them know we were coming.”
“Good,” Matt says. “I know it’s been a few months, but hopefully they haven’t forgotten about us. Now if I just knew what a freedom camp was.”
“Do you have the coordinates?” Leo says.
Matt sweeps the room with his eyes. “I wrote them down right after you told me. It should be here somewhere.” He walks to the mantel over the fireplace, and then over to the dresser by the window. “I just have to remember.”
“Got it.” Jessica walks in from an adjoining room. “It’s where you always leave important stuff. On the floor next to the toilet.” She hands a piece of paper to Matt.