by Brandt Legg
“We’ll find out once I talk to Gaines and can use his Eysen-Sphere.”
“Confident.”
“Don’t you realize? I saw him. The Spheres are directly connected.”
“Savina, I need to know where he is.”
“I know that. And you shall.”
The Judge did believe in the power of the Spheres, which is why they had committed virtually unlimited resources to finding the other one. “This is a unique time in human history,” he began, the speech one that Savina had heard often. “We can shape the future like never before. Booker, with his collection of UQP oddballs and Inner Movement weirdoes, have one vision. The US government, specifically the Pentagon and intelligence agencies, has another . . . but it’s the Foundation that—”
“I know that, too,” Savina said. “I’m leading the charge, remember. Every one of the groups you just mentioned sees the risk, and everyone wants to save the world . . . three very different approaches.”
“Yes,” he said, putting down a precision screwdriver. “I’ve brought it up again because I’m concerned that the Sphere might lead you down a different path. You’re seeing things no one has ever seen, experiencing mind-altering events‒‒ ”
“You’ve cautioned me many times. I know you think that the more I delve into the Sphere, the closer I’ll get to the metaphysical philosophies of the Inner Movement, but those people are following some New Age dream. They aren’t dealing with science.”
The Judge thought of Booker Lipton’s own team of physicists, working on research into a new field called Universe Quantum Physics, or UQP. Booker’s originally secret pet project had grown so large that it was now well known in the scientific community. UQP was the ambitious attempt to create a new area of science involving quantum mechanics, aspects of physics at the nanoscopic level, metaphysics, subatomic particles, the theory of everything, infinite layers, energetic manipulations, extreme neurological control, forces of space, and concepts of time, all within the reality of a multiverse.
UQP was generally regarded as a rich man’s folly, but it scared the Judge because he had seen into an Eysen-Sphere, and the Foundation had been born out of the remnants of a group that had been defeated by the Inner Movement. Booker Lipton had tried to recruit Savina, and he had far more people on his team exploring UQP than the Foundation did, trying to develop the potential of their Sphere. Now the Judge realized that it wasn’t just Booker chasing what he’d lost when the Gaines’ Eysen-Sphere supposedly disintegrated seven years earlier.
“Booker has obviously been concealing Eysen-Sphere research in his UQP program,” the Judge said. “He could be way ahead of us on what the Spheres can do.”
“UQP is not a legitimate area of any science,” Savina replied. “The only way Booker has attracted so many prominent scientists to his fantasy factory is because he pays them like professional athletes. Million dollar contracts, signing bonuses, it’s insane. He’s turned the academic world of science into an ostentatious and garish carnival, like watching Wall Street bid for top MBAs. Believe me, I know. You saw what he offered me.”
“But what does he get for that investment?”
“Not what you think,” she said. “Many of his recruits take the salaries and Booker’s extra funding for their side projects, but they aren’t on board with his dream of a fairy tale world.”
The Judge was surprised that after what Savina had just experienced with the Sphere, she was still maintaining that Booker’s search for other dimensions, wormholes, portals, and his belief in psychic phenomena, time travel, and related phenomena, was a joke. The Spheres had the potential to answer the great questions; where did we come from, why is it all here, what holds everything together, when did it start, when does it end? The exact questions Booker had asked her while trying to hire her.
There were two reasons Savina had committed herself to the Judge. The obvious one was her addiction to the Sphere. When she began with the Foundation, she didn’t believe the other Sphere still existed, and Booker had not said differently. Nothing in the world offered more excitement, or a chance for greater discovery. More importantly, however, the Judge had showed her the future inside the Sphere.
The vision had terrified her. A real and complete Armageddon, worse than anything science fiction had conjured, was coming . . . and soon. She believed the Judge’s Phoenix Initiative had the best chance of succeeding in saving the human race from those horrors, as well as possible extinction.
“And you still feel Booker’s UQP is just a fanciful hobby? Even after today?” the Judge asked while he fitted a miniscule titanium bearing into a socket with a pair of precision tweezers.
“Absolutely,” she said, but as she felt pulled back toward the Sphere, guilt clouded in.
Her answer was partially a lie. Savina didn’t know anything for sure now except that she needed more time with the Sphere, and with that thought, the words of Booker Lipton replayed in her mind.
Time is a funny thing.
Chapter 26
Rathmore and Murik surveyed the vast amounts of data pouring in from Hawaii, grateful that the hunt for Gaines and the Sphere had taken an easy turn onto US soil. The NSA and CIA could, of course, operate anywhere on the planet, but things always went more simply when no one needed to be shoved out of their way.
Hundreds of agents and law enforcement were involved in interviewing, detaining, arresting, and collecting data. “Lady Checkmate,” as the top brass in the Pentagon called the woman in charge, coordinated eight jurisdictions and agencies, as well as the US Navy’s involvement. Her official title was “the Conductor,” a kind of super MONSTER. Famous in Washington intelligence circles, the plump African-American had a mind filled with contacts and ideas, even before she earned her current moniker, because of her use of bold strategies to achieve her objectives.
“We’re getting a much clearer picture now of what’s been going on,” Rathmore said as Murik adjusted the volume on several interrogations going on simultaneously. “An anonymous donor, most likely Booker Lipton, poured tens of millions of dollars into research. The Eysen-Sphere has been to the university on at least three occasions in recent years, possibly many more times.”
“Amazing,” Murik said. “Right under our noses.”
“Yeah, well, that will prove to be their biggest mistake. Booker’s arrogance is incredible,” Rathmore growled. “Let’s eat this guy alive!”
“What do we have on Gaines’ movements from the last sighting?” Murik asked, ignoring Rathmore’s usual anger and popping a couple caramel candies into his mouth. “How did the NSA monitoring miss this?”
Rathmore glared at Murik.
Murik laughed. “Relax, Claude. I’m just trying to lighten the mood. You’re going to give yourself a heart attack. Candy?” He held out an open pack of caramel-creams.
“No thanks,” Rathmore said irritably, shaking his head. “The Conductor is piecing together Gaines’ time in Hawaii, but these damned academics aren’t cooperating too much,” Rathmore said, shaking his head. “Here she is now.”
The Conductor’s face came through on the large screen. Her age, difficult to guess, could have been anywhere between forty-five and sixty-five.
“What’s the story on these scientists not talking?” Rathmore asked, resisting the urge to call her Lady Checkmate and wondering if she could be the leech. “It’s not like these eggheads are hardened criminals. They should be easy pickings.”
Murik recalled meeting the Conductor at a conference a couple of years earlier. She was a force. Intense. Way smarter than he was. He was glad they were on the same side.
“It’s strange, really,” she said distractedly. “It’s as if they’re afraid.”
“Of whom? Us?” Rathmore asked. “Or Booker Lipton?”
“Neither. I think possibly the Sphere.”
“What?” Rathmore exclaimed. “These are scientists, and you’re telling me that an eleven-million-year-old artifact is scaring them?”
“If you don’t realize that the Sphere is much more than an ordinary artifact, then I’m not sure how you got this assignment,” she said as if chiding a student who had not done his homework.
“Fair enough,” Rathmore said, his normally bristly personality no match for the Conductor, whose ramrod reputation and edgy nature exuded both powerful calm and fury waiting just below the surface. Her personnel file was filled with classified sections that even he hadn’t been able to access. The only one with more redacted parts was King. Investigating a mole within the hierarchy of the US intelligence community was like trying to find stolen goods in prison. Too many balls in the air, Rathmore thought. If I can just get to Gaines and the Sphere, the leech will either be revealed, or won’t matter as much.
Of course, Rathmore knew that the Sphere had led to the stunning collapse of virtually all of the world’s religions. He’d read every top-secret intelligence briefing on the Eysen-Sphere, even the impact papers which assessed the effect of the Eysen-INUs on the world. Rathmore was an expert on the INU’s role in disrupting industries, geopolitical stability, and economic conditions across the globe, yet he was actually surprised, even shaken, by the latest developments, specifically those at the University of Hawaii.
Up until then, the Sphere had been more mythical than real. Almost everyone who had seen it had either disappeared, or died. Even the dozen or so grad students who had been on the original dig, when Gaines had first pulled the Sphere from the Virginia cliff, had all died within months of the find. Like many in the government, he simply didn’t believe all the lore which had grown around the object. He also liked his jeans ironed and no spots on his bananas, so there wasn’t much room for anything which didn’t fit the mold.
Yet after he’d seen the files compiled on the happenings in Hawaii, his mind began to open. Hundreds of archeologists, scientists, astrophysicists, cryptologists, astronomers, and a shocking number of physicists were now on the staff at the university. Among the best in the world, the Nobel laureates, Einstein World Award winners, and geniuses of extraordinary merit, had been assembled there, working secretly for years on one thing: the Eysen-Sphere.
Damn it to hell, Rathmore thought. We haven’t been overestimating the power of this object, we’ve clearly been underestimating it.
“We need to squeeze these brainiacs,” Rathmore said, glaring at the Conductor. “They can lead us to Gaines.”
“Do they all know they were working with a fugitive? Do they know Gaines is alive?” Murik asked.
“Most are denying this, of course. But how could they not know?” the Conductor responded. “Remember, Gaines had quite a reputation before the Cosegan find.”
“Gaines was there yesterday! These people know!” Rathmore cried.
“The search for Gaines is ongoing,” the Conductor said. “Our best assessment, at this point, is that he left Hawaii at least twelve hours ago. We’re running through the data, crossing satellite footage. We’ll find him.”
“Yeah,” Murik agreed. “We’re tracking everything that’s moved off Oahu for the past twenty-four hours, but now it appears EAMI might be a real phenomena.”
EAMI, or Eysen Anomaly Matter Interference, a theory put forth by one of the top government scientists who’d been assigned to the original Eysen case, hypothesized that the Sphere may have the ability to create anomalies and interfere in scientific measurement and technologically based equipment, in effect, changing reality, or at least making it appear to have been changed.
The controversial idea had some basis in the laws of quantum mechanics, but when a physicist had tried to explain it to Rathmore, he’d been unable to follow the logic—something about the Sphere’s unknown origin, purported age, and properties in relation to the details known and specific episodes surrounding it. The EAMI theory had been used to explain the disappearance of the Eysen-Sphere at the time of Gaines and Asher’s purported deaths. The NSA’s satellite images of the minutes leading up to the helicopter explosion were analyzed, and everything matched the testimony of FBI Special Agent Dixon Barbeau, which they now knew to be false.
Every aspect, every second, every piece of evidence or data, no matter how seemingly insignificant, had been analyzed dozens of ways in the wake of losing the Sphere. EAMI also explained how Gaines and Asher had escaped so many close calls even before the explosion in Canyon de Chelly. “As if the Sphere were protecting them,” one scientist argued.
The official story stated that the remains of Gaines, Asher, and the Sphere had been destroyed in the fireball, which had burned thousands of degrees hotter than a normal crash of that type. Although the NSA, CIA, and FBI had continued searching, Gaines and Asher were never spotted again—another point for EAMI.
Instead of the EAMI theory falling apart after Booker’s companies released commercial INUs, and then churned out steady advancements in the devices, as well as all manner of other technology, it actually strengthened the case for it.
“It defies all that we know about reality,” the NSA’s top-secret report concluded. That report, the definitive work on the Sphere, prepared with input from HITE, as well as former Vatican officials, the National Science Foundation, NASA, Sandia National Laboratories, the Smithsonian, and CERN, did not endorse the EAMI theory, but definitely leaned toward it. The scientists and engineers at HITE had especially favored EAMI.
The Conductor nodded. The Eysen Anomaly Matter Interference had been read by only a few dozen people. The Conductor had received it just hours earlier. “I’m still getting through the EAMI report,” she began, “and now we’re up to our necks in new material on the strange and unusual abilities of the Sphere.”
“I’ve hardly had time to investigate some of the new research we’ve been able to access from Hawaii myself,” Murik added. “It’s crazy stuff. Reality bending, detailed views into the past. Startling predictions of the future. Eysen Anomaly might be a problem, but if these other reports are true—”
“The ‘crazy stuff,’ as you call it, is a matter for HITE and others above our pay grade, but we need to find the thing first,” the Conductor interrupted. “Eysen Anomaly could prevent us from doing that. I think we’ve all seen enough to agree that clearly EAMI is real, and we need to accept that it’s going to be perhaps our greatest challenge going forward.”
“And not just for this case,” Rathmore added. “EAMI is going to change how we do everything.” Then he quoted from the report: “‘EAMI has the potential to change perception and balance of power so significantly that it threatens to erode the dominance of the United States in the world.’”
Chapter 27
Rip was certain that a firefight between AX and Foundation forces, within the tight confines of the narrow hospital corridors and the tiny paneled off room where his precious daughter lay unconscious, would result in her death. However, there was no way to move her. Nothing could be done except to trust the one person who had done more to upend his life than any other, the Crying Man.
“Tell AX to stand down,” Rip said to Booker.
“Rip, they’ll find her,” the trillionaire shot back.
“Damn it, Booker, there’s nothing in that hospital that belongs to you. Nothing that warrants your authority. Cira is my daughter. This is my call.”
“Are you sure?” Booker asked. “When they find her, they’ll move her, and the risks to her eyes—”
“Doing it this way is the best hope I’ve got to keep her alive.”
Booker gave the command to the waiting AX team. “Stand down.”
“Bradley,” Harmer began after listening to the exchange in her ear, calling Rip by his alias, “do you want me to defend this room?”
“No. If they discover the room, I want you to surrender.” Rip knew it was a tough request. For Harmer, who had been trained to protect, to fight, surrendering to the Foundation meant that even if she survived the encounter, she’d be imprisoned and tortured until Gaines was found. Harmer could wind up locked away for years. Rip met her eye
s through the INU.
Harmer nodded. She understood that giving up might be the only chance that Cira had. The room couldn’t be defended indefinitely against so many.
“Okay,” she said quietly. “Maybe they won’t find us.”
Rip, Booker, and Harmer all turned their attention to the feeds from the hospital security cameras. Four men were working the floor where Cira’s secret room was located. They came from opposite ends of the building. It looked like they had less than five minutes before one of them got to the “supply closet.”
Rip looked back at the Eysen-Sphere, hoping Crying Man would appear. He wondered where Gale was, and wanted to ask Booker, but decided to wait until . . . until whatever was about to happen, happened.
“Are you going to surrender?” the orderly asked Harmer, watching the armed men scour the hospital.
“If they find us.”
“Wouldn’t it be safer to just give up now?” the orderly asked.
“Not while there’s still a chance they won’t find us,” Harmer said without turning around. “Look, I get that this is scary for you. Why don’t you just lie on the floor and it’ll all be over soon.”
The orderly stayed where he was and kept watching as the men drew closer. Harmer reached again for a cigarette, looked up at the ceiling, eyes darting to the walls, the tiled floor, and back to the ceiling. The men from the north end of the building looked like they would reach them first. The air in their room felt smothering; a stale mix of antiseptic, newly cut sheetrock, sweat, and fear.
Rip and Booker also counted the men’s steps. How long until they reached Cira’s room? All Rip wanted to do was scoop his daughter out of that bed and run to safety. Had he known, back in Virginia, that one day he’d be a father to that sweet little girl, he never would have run with the artifacts. But how different the world would be based on everything that had happened. Everyone else on the dig was dead. He and Gale were the only survivors, but for how much longer?