“Did you know about this?” Han asked as he continued to pant.
Cipher shook his head. “No. I’ve never been over this bridge at night. I’ve never seen this before. Then again, we shoulda fucking known.” He tapped Han lightly on the stomach and said, “Come on,” before continuing to trot.
Han trotted along beside him.
“The bridge was built back in the thirties sometime, 1937 I think. I heard a stat once that someone commits suicide here an average of almost once a week.”
“You’re shittin’ me,” Han said, having completely forgotten his fatigue and focusing on the sheer spectacle of thousands of phantoms walking and floating around the bridge. Some of them had climbed the monolithic spires and were hanging from them, while others were jumping from the bridge again in macabre replays of their own self-induced deaths.
“If you do the math, we’re looking at almost 4,000 phantoms haunting this bridge.”
“Cipher, I’m not just complaining now,” Han said, breathlessly, “but we should rethink this. Jumping off this bridge was going to be hard enough, but now we’re talking about setting up for the jump with ghosts crawling all the fuck over us.”
“Follow the plan and the rules,” Cipher replied in a determined tone. “Don’t look them in the eye. Don’t let them know you’re afraid of them. You’ve gotta make them think you’re afraid of the jump. They’ve got no reason to think you can see them.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Han replied.
8
“Just focus,” Cipher harshly whispered to Han, who was shaking as he attached his bungee line to the iron railing of the bridge.
Han wasn’t shaking because of the eighty-meter drop to the water below; rather, what had him trembling were the dozens of frenzied ghosts swarming all around him. “I’m doing my best, asshole,” he replied.
“I should have thought of that,” one of the phantoms said as he floated in the air just in front of Han and tapped the bungee. The phantom laughed maniacally before it suddenly dropped into a freefall, plummeting down into the darkness below.
“I’ll get you back for this,” Han whispered to Cipher.
“Focus on what you’re doing,” Cipher replied, catching a glimpse of the aircraft carrier that loomed behind them, seconds from crossing under the bridge. “We’ve got about thirty seconds till jump time.”
Cipher and Han slipped out of their track suits, revealing their naval uniforms.
“A strip show!” one of the phantoms screeched.
Another one crawled along the railing and over Han’s bungee attachment like a giant worm.
“Focus!” Cipher said again. He pulled two pairs of night-vision goggles out of his well-equipped utility belt and passed one to Han. “You remember how to turn them on like I showed you?”
“Yeah,” Han affirmed as he tried to control his breathing to prevent hyperventilating.
“Are you hooked up?” Cipher asked as he did a final check on his own cord.
“Yep...or at least I hope so.”
“Are you ready?” Cipher asked.
“No fucking way,” Han replied.
“Just like we rehearsed—on the first bounce,” Cipher said as he began climbing up onto the railing. He looked below and saw the tip of the USS Dominance pass under them. Suddenly, his recent self-assuredness suffered its first major threat. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.”
Han stopped instantly when he heard Cipher’s noncommittal words; he was halfway over the railing. “Wait...what did you just say?”
“You’re gonna die, asshole!” one of the phantoms shouted in Han’s face. Han reacted to the ghost’s sudden appearance, its gruesomeness, and the spit that the phantom’s close proximity allowed it to spray into his face. “Wait a second,” it said, noting Han’s reaction. “You can see me?”
Han’s body went rigid, and he bowed his head, averting the gaze of the ghost. “Cipher, please tell me you didn’t just say this isn’t such a good idea.”
“I didn’t. Just focus,” Cipher replied. “Five seconds to jump time. Remember to release as soon as you start to come back up. Don’t wait too long, or you’ll come up too high and—literally—miss the boat,” Cipher said rapidly.
“You better have measured this right,” Han replied, terror gripping his voice.
“Wait a second!” the ghost screamed out at Han. “You see me, don’t you?”
“Now! Jump!” Cipher yelled as he let go of the railing.
“Oh fuck no!” Han called out as he, too, let go of the railing and fell into the blackness.
9
Through his night-vision goggles, Cipher watched the unforgiving surface of the Dominance approaching at terminal velocity. As he fell, he realized that his math might not be perfect. He must have forgotten some variable. Maybe the tide was higher than he expected? Maybe he hadn’t properly calculated how much water the carrier displaced? Regardless, he was about to become pizza.
The bungee cord began to tighten just in time and to slow his descent. He knew he had to time things perfectly. If he released too early, he’d slam onto the deck, and the mission would be over before it had begun. If he released too late, he’d be snapped back like a slingshot and miss the boat altogether, only to go hurtling into the sea.
The bungee continued to tighten and seemed to reach its apex when Cipher was about two meters above the deck. He released the hook and fell freely to the deck, landing feet first. The impact of the deck against his boots sent a terrible pain through the soles of his feet, but it was a pain that was tolerable. Nothing was broken.
An instant later, Han hit the deck as well. His descent wasn’t as smooth as Cipher’s. He somersaulted awkwardly and slid painfully for a couple meters before he finally came to a rest on his back.
“Shit,” Cipher cursed. He ran to his partner’s side and knelt next to him. “Are you okay?”
Han was gasping for air. “Sort of,” he eventually said as he tried to catch his breath.
“Anything broken?” Cipher asked.
Han continued breathing heavily and carefully sat up. “I don’t think so.”
“Good,” Cipher said, pulling the other man to his feet. “They’ll start their docking procedure in less than thirteen minutes. We’ve gotta be off the boat by then.”
The twosome began running under cover of darkness toward the island, where the navigational bridge and flight deck control center were located, as well as the entrance to the ship interior. They were disguised in American Naval uniforms, but each of them also had conspicuously large black backpacks and black utility belts; they were hoping not to be seen or stopped by any of the ship’s sailors or officers as they made their way toward their destination.
Just as they were about to reach the entrance of the ship, a horrid voice screeched out words that sounded like the damaged scrawl from a late nineteenth-century record player: “You saw me!”
“Oh shit,” Han said.
“Just don’t look back,” Cipher whispered.
“It’s following us,” Han replied.
“Don’t look back,” Cipher repeated.
Behind them, the phantom who’d startled Han on the bridge stood at the back of the giant, black deck of the Dominance and glared with wild eyes at Han and Cipher. It began to phase its way across the deck at super speed, until it was only meters from Han. “You saw me!” it called out again.
“Focus and stick to the plan, man,” Cipher repeated as they entered the bowels of the ship.
“Sure. No problem. Focus,” Han replied sardonically.
Cipher pulled his unregistered iPhone out of his belt and pulled up the diagram of the inside of the carrier so he could guide them to the missile room, located in the heavily guarded and protected engine room.
“They have an app for finding your way around aircraft carriers now?” Han asked.
“No,” Cipher replied. “I downloaded it from the Pentagon. The engine room is below the waterline, so we have to ma
ke our way down nine decks.”
“Nine decks? Oh, man! Why didn’t you tell me that?”
“Because I didn’t want to hear you complaining, ‘Oh, man! Why is it that far down? I’m such a huge pussy.’”
“How the hell are we gonna get that far without being seen?” Han whispered angrily.
“Only the engine room is restricted and guarded. We should be fine the rest of the way down.”
“What are you boys up to?” the phantom asked as he phased past Cipher and Han and stood in front of them, blocking their path as he addressed them. The phantom, which appeared to have once been a businessman of some sort—or perhaps he just wanted to look nice when he died—was dressed in a black suit with all the bagginess that had been fashionable in the early nineties. His face had the bloated appearance of a corpse that had been in the water a long time before it was found—if it was ever found. Now, he stood there, blocking their path.
Cipher and Han put their heads down and walked through the phantom, pretending it was not there. Their only hope was to ignore it and hope it would eventually believe them and leave them alone.
“I know you saw me,” the phantom repeated as it continued following them. Every time the twosome turned a corner in the long stairwell as they descended, the phantom was already standing on the next level, relentlessly blocking them and refusing to give up. “Don’t be rude.”
“Are we close?” Han asked to break the silence as he tried to ignore the ghastly appearance of the dead man.
“Yeah. This is the fourth deck. The engine room is on the next one,” Cipher replied. He stopped suddenly and grabbed Han’s arm to stop him as well. “This is it. Break out the Special K.”
“Right,” Han replied, pulling out a bottle of ketamine about the size of a Coke bottle, then soaking a white handkerchief with the liquid. “Try to hold your breath as long as you can.”
Cipher nodded as he pulled out his taser.
The phantom’s mouth dropped open. “Holy shit! You boys are insane. Wow! Look...I don’t even care anymore. Just keep ignoring me. As long as you keep entertaining me like this, I’m happy!”
“Are you ready?” Cipher asked.
“All set,” Han confirmed.
“I’m ready too!” the phantom shouted, clapping. “Let’s get crazy!”
“All right. Let’s do this thing,” Cipher said as the duo made its way toward the engine room, followed closely by their dead voyeur.
Cipher paused at a heavy iron door that marked the entrance to the engine room, which was equipped with a retinal scanner.
“How are you going to get past that?” Han asked.
Cipher tapped his iPhone as he explained, “The Navy is right to use retinal scanners, because retinas are completely unique. Fortunately, thirteen-megapixel cameras, along with retina displays, have gotten so good that a photograph of an officer—in this case, the captain of the ship—is a good enough forgery to fool it.” Cipher turned his iPhone to Han and smiled as he displayed the high-def picture of the eye of the captain of the USS Dominance. Han smiled back.
The phantom let out a low whistle. “Shit. If I’d have known we were going to have gadgets like that in the future, I never woulda jumped off the bridge.”
Cipher held the device up to the retina detector, and the door instantly unlocked to allow the alleged captain to pass.
Down a long corridor, a guard was standing watch outside the secured door of the missile room. He looked as though he was nearly asleep, but he quickly stood at attention and held his rifle in front of him when Cipher and Han came on the scene. “What’s your business?” he had time to say before Cipher shot his taser, releasing a shock-round projectile that shot 50,000 volts of electricity on impact, instantly dropping the guard to his knees. He didn’t even have time to call out in pain before Han was behind him, driving the ketamine-soaked rag into his mouth.
“Gotcha!” the phantom fan hooted with glee, laughing maniacally at the scene unfolding in front of him. “Oh, this is like going to the movies in 3-D times a million! You guys are insane!”
“Masks,” Han said to Cipher, indicating that it was time to put on their gas masks to protect themselves from their open bottle of ketamine. Once their gas masks were secure, Han smashed the bottle onto the ground, releasing the liquid and the noxious odor throughout the corridor. Anyone who entered would be knocked unconscious after only a few breaths.
Cipher used the digital eye to gain access to the missile room easily, and he was happy to find it vacant. “The engine room is mostly deserted at night,” Cipher explained to Han. “We should be able to remove the thermonuclear device without any interruptions.”
“Thermonuclear device?” the phantom exclaimed. “Oh, this is better than a movie! I can’t wait to see how this turns out.”
Cipher stepped up to a computer console and began inputting numbers.
“What are you doing now?” Han asked as he kept watch at the door, pulling out his own taser.
“I already hacked the codes yesterday. I just need to go through the whole sequence for undocking a warhead.”
“Hey! What the hell are you guys doing?” the guard suddenly shouted at Han and Cipher.
Han looked down quickly and saw his body, still unconscious, next to the shattered glass of ketamine. He looked up to see the guard’s ghost standing in the missile room next to Cipher, training his gun directly on Han.
10
“Hold it right there!” the guard’s ghost shouted at Han.
“Focus,” Cipher said, not looking up as he continued to punch in code numbers.
The businessman phantom laughed maniacally once again and clapped as he watched the proceedings. “Oh this is rich! This couldn’t be better!”
The guard’s ghost quickly turned and trained its weapon on the ghostly businessman. “Who the fuck are you?” he shouted, appalled by the phantom’s bloated and decayed appearance.
“I’m a dead guy! Like you!” the businessman phantom shouted with glee, as if the whole thing were a grand prank.
Han looked away and tried to focus on Cipher, but he couldn’t help shaking his head and whispering to himself, “Shit.”
“Very funny, you freak!” the guard’s ghost shouted back. He reached for the mini walkie-talkie that was clipped to his shirt and shouted a report. “Security! This is Sosnowski, in the engine room! There are three unauthorized men—” The ghost of Sosnowski stopped when he saw his own limp body just outside the doorway, its eyes shut and chest not moving.
The other phantom laughed again. “See? I told you! You’re dead! These guys killed you! And now they’re stealing a thermonuclear bomb! Haha! Fuck you, asshole!”
Sosnowski let the gun slip to his side as he stepped back and leaned against the console next to Cipher. Cipher did everything he could to ignore the new phantom as he finished the sequence of numbers.
“Holy Jesus. I’m...dead,” Sosnowski said. Suddenly, Sosnowski turned when he saw something to his left. “Wait...what’s that light?”
“Oh no,” Han whispered.
The business phantom suddenly ran over to Sosnowski and tried to look in the same direction so he could see the light as well. “Where? What light? Do you see a white light?”
“Don’t you see it?” Sosnowski said to the businessman phantom.
“No! Goddamn it, I never see the white light! I’ve seen other people see it but I never see it. That’s why I’m fucking stuck here!”
“It’s so...beautiful,” Sosnowski said, completely mesmerized.
“Focus, Han,” Cipher said as he stood upright and waited as gears began to mesh and the warhead began to undock from the missile. In moments, it would be ejected and ready for manual extraction.
“Cipher, you know what’s about to happen,” Han replied, his heart racing as he watched the guard’s ghost gazing at the white light like a deer in headlights. “How’s this different than what happened to Natalie?”
“There’s too much at s
take. Don’t lose focus. We’re almost there,” Cipher replied, still not looking as the mechanized ejection moved along.
“What are you waiting for, soldier boy? Go to the white light. Be free. Go join all your friends and family and live in perfect harmony,” the businessman phantom shouted mournfully. “Just leave me here to rot.”
“It’s so warm....it’s perfect,” Sosnowski said breathlessly.
“Cipher…” Han said forcefully.
“Focus!” Cipher shouted in return, finally turning to Han and shooting a deadly serious gaze toward him.
“Go into the light!” the business phantom shouted again, looking away from Sosnowski dejectedly.
“Okay.” Sosnowski nodded, then began to walk toward the light that only he could see.
“No!” Han finally shouted.
“Shit!” Cipher whispered, holding his head in his hands in frustration.
Sosnowski turned suddenly and regarded Han. “You can see me?”
“Yes,” Han replied.
The business phantom laughed again, this time more maniacally than ever before. “I knew it! I knew it!” He flew into Han’s face and grabbed him by the lapels of his uniform. “I can touch you! Ha-ha! I’ve heard of people like you!”
“Does this mean I’m not dead?” asked Sosnowski.
“No, you’re dead all right,” Han replied.
“Han, you have just fucked this up beyond all recognition,” Cipher uttered, shaking his head.
“I had to, Cipher. It was my fault he died.”
“If I’m dead, how can you see me?” Sosnowski asked.
“Because they’re freaks, that’s why!” shouted the businessman phantom. “I’ve heard of people like you, but I swear I never thought I’d be lucky enough to find one.” He turned to Sosnowski, “We can communicate with these guys. We can mean something because of them.”
“You can’t go into the white light,” Han told Sosnowski.
“Why not?” Sosnowski asked.
The God Killers Page 15