by Ciana Stone
“Are you ready?” Lucas drew her attention from her private thoughts.
She nodded and he gestured for her. As always, she felt a momentary stab of fear. There was something about being hooked up to the machine that was frightening. But it was also exciting and that was what kept the fear under control.
She walked to the center of the chamber, where a raised metal dais stood. There were two panels mounted on opposite sides on top of the dais. These were the control pads, multi-rowed lights of red, blue, amber, green and white. When the prototype was completed it would require two operators.
Mounted on a stand between the two panels were two devices that looked like some type of strange glasses. The eyepieces were opaque, made of a material she could not identify that reflected light like a prism. The frames were rounded out to form a bubble-like curve that projected away from the face. Electronic circuits were placed inside the frames at the center so that when the glasses were worn the circuit panel pressed against the forehead between the eyes of the wearer. Similar circuits were mounted in along the sides.
The glasses didn’t so much sit on the ears and nose, as clamp down to the head. Where the frame terminated, a small protrusion on the inside pressed into the scalp in a slightly painful manner. There were no wires connecting the devices to the dais. They operated without the need of such connections.
Placing her hands on either side of the control panel, Senna leaned forward slightly so that her stomach was pressed against the cold metal of the dais. Lucas fitted the device on her then crossed the room to an enormous station that looked to her like the cockpit of some kind of spaceship.
“Initiation sequence,” he said as he manipulated the controls.
Senna felt a slight jolt, almost like an electric shock pass through her. Images swirled on the inside lenses of the headset and her eyes widened involuntarily.
“Beginning transfer, modules one through eleven,” she heard Lucas’s voice. It sounded like it came from a very long way. A second later she lost touch with reality.
Pausing in her narrative, she got up from the bed and fumbled around in her purse for change. “Is there a drink machine around here somewhere? I’m really thirsty.”
“I’ll check.” He stepped in front of her as she started for the door. “But first, let me get this straight. Lucas and Marcus were working for some government organization, building some kind of prototype, and to do this everyone had to think they both were dead?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know what organization they were working for?”
“Yes.”
“Well?”
“Could I get something to drink first?”
He frowned but turned and left the room. Senna sat down and thought about how she was going to tell him. There were certain things that he was not ready for but she wasn’t sure how to keep those things from him. He returned with two soft drinks and gave her one. She opened it and took a long swallow.
“Thanks,” she said with a smile.
“Let’s get back to my question.” He opened his drink and took a seat on the bed.
“The prototype,” she said, steering the subject away from the government and to the device itself.
“Okay, let’s start with that. Just what was this prototype?”
“A weapon.”
“What kind of weapon?”
“Something that shouldn’t exist.” Her voice took on a hard edge.
“Could you be more specific?”
“Basically it’s an electro-plasma emitter that is equipped with a three-level sensor system and a matter data pattern converter.”
“A… You want to try that once more?” he asked in disbelief.
“Sounds like science fiction, doesn’t it?” she asked, understanding his reaction.
“Is it?”
She shook her head. “Let’s start with the sensors. There were three subsystems, S1, 2 and 3. S1 was a long-range optical and wideband EM scanning sensor. Its capabilities included a wide-angle scan that could be used for automated mapping functions.”
“Mapping functions? From a stationary position.”
“Not exactly.”
“Then what exactly?”
“From a stationary orbit.”
Konnor’s eyes widened. “Go on.”
“Subsystem 2 was the short-range, high-resolutions optical and EM scanning system. It was equipped with spectrometers and quark resonance scanners for detailed geological structure analysis. S3 was also short range. These were quark resonance scanners that were arrayed in clusters. They were designed for gathering detailed biological data. Essentially they were optical, chemical, and genetic analysis sensors that were programmed with life-form analysis software that is capable of determining the gross structure of a life form as well as the chemical and genetic composition.”
“Wait!” Konnor interrupted her. “At the risk of sounding rude…that’s crazy. What you’re describing is some…something from a science-fiction movie. Those things are not possible by today’s technology.”
“You’re right, by the current level of Earth technology they’re not. But this isn’t Earth technology. Not even close.”
“Are you telling me… No, don’t answer that yet. Finish telling me about the prototype.”
“Okay, all of the scanners are active devices that are capable of gathering data at speeds equivalent to the speed of light. There is an enormous amount of instrumentation, far too much to list everything but the primary ones are the long and short range EM scanners, the field-stress sensors, the EM flux sensors, the imaging and distortion scanners, the genetic analysis scanners, the imaging array and the molecular imaging scanners. How it all works together is fairly simple. It is basically a staging system. Once sensory information is in system memory in stage one, stage two may be activated and so on.
“The next system of major importance is the matter data pattern converter. In short, without having to go into quantum theory, the way this works is scanners are used to pinpoint a target. The MDPC, the matter data pattern converter, is equipped with its own scanners that confirm the data from the sensory system and lock onto the target. Then the molecular imaging scanners activate and a subatomic matter data pattern conversion beam is created within the matter conversion array along with a data pattern matrix. The beam is directed and matter within the target area is essentially reduced to a data pattern. This pattern can be held in the pattern buffer of the system for up to six hundred seconds before degradation begins. Within that length of time the data pattern can theoretically be reconverted to matter.”
“Theoretically?”
“Well, as far as I know, the MDPC only works well with such things as inanimate objects—you know, rocks or tables or things like that. There were some problems with electronics. They didn’t work after reconversion.”
“What about biological material?”
“To my knowledge that was never attempted.”
“But would it work?”
“To be honest I don’t see how it could.” She paused to finish her drink then tossed the empty can into the trash.
“Why?”
“Well, aside from the fact that the reconversion pattern might not duplicate the original precisely and end up with a deformed or incomplete entity, I don’t think it’s possible to reduce a human spirit into a data pattern. If, as some think, we are more than a collection of our parts, more than the mental activity of our minds, then what would happen to that intrinsic part that cannot be seen or touched? In other words, once the body and mind were reduced to a data pattern and in essence ceased to exist, what would happen to the spirit?”
“That’s too deep a question for me.”
“For both of us,” she replied.
“You said something about an electro-plasma emitter. What is that exactly?”
“Death,” she said flatly then blew out her breath. “It’s basically a transmitter. You know what a transmitter is, don’t you? A device that g
enerates and amplifies a carrier wave, modulates it with a signal, and radiates the resulting signal from an antenna. Well, that’s what the emitter does. The targeting computer verifies data from the sensor system and locks onto a target. At that point stage one commences and energy is released. This energy is in the form of subatomic particles that have the ability to liberate nuclear forces within a specific class of superconductive synthetic crystals.
“The emitters are arranged in arrays of three hundred and are supplied by redundant energy systems from the electro-plasma system. When the command to fire is received, the EPE flow regulators guide the electro-plasma though a series of magnetic gates and irises into the pre-fire chamber where the energy is amplified and passed to the EEDS or the energy emitter discharge system.
“If authorization is received from the final gate, the magnetic containment is opened and the energy beam passes through a multi-faceted crystal. The beam exists through one or more of the facets.”
“And just what kind of power are we talking about?”
“Six-hundred megawatts per emitter.”
Konnor looked like he had been struck in the back, his eyes flew open so wide. “Are you serious?”
“Dead serious.”
“Do you realize what that kind of power could do? Do you have any idea—”
“I know,” she interrupted.
He blew out his breath forcefully. “Okay, for the sake of argument, let’s say I believe all this. Your father and uncle built this fantastic thing. If the technology doesn’t exist today then it couldn’t have then. So where did they come by the knowledge to do all this?”
“Lucas discovered it in the Sumerian writings.”
“Oh, now I see,” he scoffed. “He just read through the artifacts and there it was—how to build the ultimate weapon according to people who were still using carts and candles.”
“No.” His tone irritated her. “The data was encrypted. Lucas broke the code. Don’t you see? That has to be why those people were killed—Harlan and Nolan and Dr. Van Dorn. The government must have hired them to work on the project and then decided to eliminate them.”
“Why do that if the prototype was already built?”
She realized that she had not yet told him enough of what happened. “The first one was destroyed,” she replied.
“Why? By whom?”
“By Lucas. He discovered that the organization they were working with planned to double cross them and take the prototype for military use and so he destroyed it. He set the EEP to self destruct and everything was destroyed.”
“Then why not just get him and Marcus to build another?”
“Because Lucas died in the explosion and his notes were never found. Marcus has spent years trying to piece together the data.”
“And did he?”
“No. But someone did. And whoever that someone is, is who has been after us. He knows that Lucas downloaded the information into my mind and that’s why he’s after me.”
“Lucas downloaded the data into your mind? How?”
“With the device I told you about.”
“So if you’ve been carrying around all this stuff in your head, why did everyone wait until now to come after you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why didn’t you tell me all this before?”
“Because I didn’t know. I told you, my memory of that time was erased.”
“But now it’s not. Now you suddenly remember. You want to tell me how that’s possible?”
“It was part of the failsafe Lucas built into his plan. All of the data was downloaded into my mind. He kept part of the data that Marcus didn’t have access to and Marcus kept part. Lucas used the device to implant false memories of what happened during the time we were in South American in my mind. That way, I would never know what had really taken place and when the time came he could present the correct keys in the correct sequence and I would remember.”
“But his plans didn’t work out,” Konnor offered. “He got killed and the knowledge was locked up in your mind. And the false memories he planted… Wait, you said you had no memory of that time. What happened to the false memories?”
“Someone else tampered with my mind,” she explained. “After Lucas died, I was taken from the villa by the man who was hired by the government to guard us. When we finally reached safety he went for help but he never came back. But someone else found me.”
“Is this where Shen comes in?”
“No, not Shen. Kitaro.”
“Who’s Kitaro?”
“Shen’s…adversary.”
Konnor’s eyes narrowed at the word adversary. “So what happens now?” he asked.
“We have to go to Groom Lake.”
“Groom Lake? That’s at Nellis. Why would we want to go there?”
“Because that’s where the latest prototype is.”
Konnor stared hard at her for a few moments. “And just how would you know that?”
“My father told me.”
“Your father? Lucas?”
“No, Marcus.”
“Marcus Laserian,” he said for clarification. “You’ve seen him?”
“Yes.”
“And he told you all this?”
“Not in so many words, but yes.”
Konnor got up and walked across the room. He was quiet for a few minutes then turned to her. “Do you believe that that there’s another prototype.”
“Yes.”
“Okay, then just how do you suppose that happened?”
“What?” She didn’t understand what he was asking.
“How did it happen? You told me you worked with Lucas and Marcus on the first one and that aside from the data in your head, no one had a complete set of plans. So how did the second prototype get built?”
Senna hadn’t stopped to consider that. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I suppose over the years with enough people working on it they broke the encryption and…”
“So why do they need you?” he interrupted. “If they’d broken the code and have the data they wouldn’t need you.”
She thought about it for a moment. “Maybe they don’t have all of it. Maybe they just have enough—”
“And where would they have gotten any of the data?” he cut her off. “You said yourself that only three people had access to the data—you, Lucas and Marcus. Obviously you haven’t shared what you knew and Lucas is dead, so who does that leave?”
“Marcus?” She looked at him incredulously. “You can’t be serious? He wouldn’t do that! He wants it destroyed as much as anyone.”
“Are you sure about that?”
She opened her mouth to say yes but stopped. She couldn’t be sure of anything at this point. And Konnor made a strong point. Aside from herself and Lucas, Marcus was the only one with enough knowledge of the systems to begin construction. Why he would do that, she couldn’t begin to guess. She wanted to think that he wouldn’t. After all, he was her father.
“I don’t know, Konnor,” she finally said. “There’s a lot I don’t know. But I do know this. That thing has to be destroyed and we’re the only ones who can do it so we have to go whether we want to or not.”
“Why?” he challenged her. “Why are we the only ones who can do it? Why not just drop a bomb on the damn thing?”
“Because they would just start again. Don’t you see? As long as I have the information and they know it, they won’t leave me alone. They’ll keep coming and coming and eventually they’ll catch me. I have to make sure that they’re stopped and the only way to do that is to get rid of what’s in my head and destroy all the data on the prototype.”
“And just how do you propose to do that?”
“I have no idea. I just know I have to try.”
“What aren’t you telling me?” he asked when she stood up and turned away.
“Nothing.” She couldn’t face him and lie.
“Senna,” his voice carried a warning.
S
he would not turn to look at him and after a few moments he walked up behind her. “Look at me.”
She turned around but didn’t look up. “What are you hiding?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t lie!”
Started by his sudden bark she looked up.
“There’s something you’re not saying.”
She tried to evade answering. “I’m tired and hungry.”
“Does it have something to do with what happened after Lucas died? With the man who saved you then disappeared?”
She nodded and looked down.
“What happened to you after that?” he asked. “Where did you go?”
“To hell.” She looked up at him with the pain of remembering clear in her eyes.
“I don’t understand.”
“You will,” she said and looked away. “Unfortunately, you will.”
Chapter Sixteen
Ballantyne, Charlotte, NC
Paige tossed her handbag on the kitchen counter then peeled off her jacket and shrugged out of her shoulder holster. She felt like the bottom had just dropped out from under her. Ryan’s death had hit her harder than she wanted to let on. It was only after he was gone that she realized she really had loved him. Now she would never get the chance to tell him.
The captain had put her on temporary desk duty until Internal Affairs had concluded their investigation. She had spent the last day doing nothing but going over time after time what she had been doing at the scene and how she knew where the operation was going down.
Every question she was asked brought a fresh wave of hatred for Senna Laserian. It was her fault that all this had happened. If not for her Ryan would be alive and Paige would not be at risk of losing her job for trying to protect him. The only consolation she had at the moment was Aaron. Having an Assistant District Attorney as a boyfriend did have its rewards. Aaron might not be the top dog at the DAs but he did have a lot of clout.
Slipping off her shoes, she started upstairs. She would shower and rest for a while before Aaron got home. As she reached the top of the stairs she heard voices coming from his study. Instinctively she reached for her gun then remembered she had left it downstairs. Stemming the urge to go get it, she crept closer to the door. She could hear the conversation clearly.