Cosega Sphere (The Cosega Sequence Book 4)

by Brandt Legg

  “And why was there more than one? How many were there? I have reason to believe there were nine, possibly more.”

  Booker’s eyes brightened at the confirmation of his research. “I also have a theory that Jesus had one, and many other great thinkers across the ages. One can look back in human history and see great people or great achievements that seem so out of step with their times, it’s as if they knew something‒‒”

  “Or had seen something,” Savina finished, “that others of their day had not.”

  “Right. Were the Pyramids constructed so perfectly because of ingenuity that radically exceeded the capabilities of the day or, did they have help?”

  Savina smirked. “Some think it was aliens.”

  “Maybe it was,” Booker said, “but not in how they think. Perhaps an Eysen-Sphere was present in ancient Egypt. It’s so advanced, even now, that to us it seems like an alien artifact. What if they only saw occasional glimpses?”

  “Rip has had full access to an Eysen-Sphere for seven years, and during all that time, working constantly on decoding and dissecting it, how much of what he’s discovered have I found in the years I’ve been working on this one?” Savina asked. “They contain the infinite. I’m willing to bet we’ve crossed very little common ground.”

  “Rip has a theory that the Spheres are able to personalize themselves to the viewer.”

  “It is possible that they read DNA.”

  “Without a blood or tissue sample?”

  “We do touch them you know,” Savina said, looking down at her hands. “Their technology is light-years beyond ours. They could do it.”

  “But why would they? And who are they?”

  “We may never know.”

  “We have to know,” Booker said, sounding almost desperate. “Don’t you understand? We have to know because that is what will save us!”

  “Save us from what?”

  “Don’t tell me you’ve worked with the Foundation for the past four years and you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

  “I do,” she said quietly. “You mean save us from ourselves.”

  “The Foundation is wrong in how they’re going about it, and they’re doing it for the wrong reasons.”

  “To save humanity is wrong?”

  “To enrich the elites even further? That’s what’s wrong.”

  “What do you mean? Somebody has to fund it. The world can’t just save itself. And you have little room to talk about enriching yourself.”

  “Savina, they’re using what they know of the future as an excuse. Sure, they want to save humanity because they don’t want to die, and they want their children, grandchildren, et cetera to survive. They want a legacy. They want heirs.”

  “This isn’t about money,” she said, appalled.

  “Yes, it is. The coming crisis may come either way, but the results can be controlled, and they want to make sure it goes their way. That they end up ruling and profiting forever.”

  She controlled her temper and did what she always did at times of uncertainty. She thought. The defensiveness she felt might be justified, or it might be coming from guilt, from knowing she might have been helping the wrong side. Whereas Booker had an awful reputation, she intuitively trusted him, and where the Foundation had an illustrious reputation of generosity, her intuition told her there was a lot she didn’t know, and maybe her world was a little backwards.

  “What do you mean exactly?” Savina asked. “Do you have proof?”

  “I know what our Sphere showed.”

  “Which is?”

  “That they’re going to engineer the plague to eliminate whom they want, and to make sure they alone sell the cure. The Phoenix Initiative.”

  Booker expected her to be shocked, but instead she replied calmly.

  “The Foundation is engineering a plague in order to stop a larger outbreak that could wipe us all out, and they’re making sure that we have the cure available. What would you have them do, let the plague wipe us out before we have a cure? Many will die, of course, but we can’t avoid that. The Phoenix Initiative is the best chance we have. With it, we’ll save as many as we can.”

  “Billions will die!”

  “If the Foundation does not act,” she snapped.

  “No, billions die because of the Foundation. They’re seeking to control the population by outbreak and vaccine, a cycle of dependency on the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries.”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  “Do you believe the Sphere?”

  “Of course.”

  “Then you will believe it,” Booker said as he pressed a button. A ten-foot section of the wall next to them lit with images. A few seconds later, she found herself staring at Rip Gaines.

  Chapter 64

  The Judge didn’t yet know that Wattington, aka Murik, the Foundation’s best inside source in the government’s search for Gaines, had been compromised. Plenty of Foundation agents had infiltrated the CIA, NSA, FBI, Defense Department, Justice Department, Homeland Security, just about anywhere money could buy influence, which was everywhere, but Murik had been at the top of the Sphere situation.

  Moving up the launch of the Phoenix Initiative would be much easier if they could find one of the other seven Spheres Savina had mentioned, but that seemed unlikely, even if any of them still existed. Whoever had one would obviously guard it and keep it secret, but he suspected they were still buried somewhere. The idea of seven more was so new and mind-boggling that he really didn’t know what he thought.

  The Foundation had already put its considerable resources to work in an effort to locate the two Spheres in Booker’s possession. The Judge gave the order to seek and destroy any location that could be used to hide Gaines, Savina, and the Spheres. Going forward, he would operate under the assumption that the launch would proceed without the Spheres.

  “I don’t like heading blindly into the most dangerous period in human history, but the plans were completed based on years of data pulled from the Sphere,” the Judge had told the committee. “The sooner we move, the less chance we have that some variable will change.”

  The Judge also knew that as long as he had the five scientists who authored the time-shift paper, he could prevent Booker’s UQP team from manipulating something in the past to derail Phoenix.

  He’d just sent several teams to Hawaii in order to assist Taz’s return to the island. A large operation had also been secretly put into place to fly the five important scientists to a hidden Foundation facility in Central America, where Savina’s two assistants, who had been rescued from the fire at the lab, would be waiting.

  —O—

  Ever since he’d let Gale and Rip escape seven years earlier, Barbeau had been heading a powerful DIRT unit, the deep covert group of trustworthy agents within the Bureau known only to the former FBI director, who was now the US Attorney General. DIRT’s mission, to uncover corruption inside the NSA, CIA, FBI, and other government agencies, had yielded hundreds of bad agents and officials.

  However, the Attorney General had decided on a bold strategy: rather than expose it and risk destroying the very fabric of the government, DIRT continued to track and monitor its targets, waiting for an opportunity to cut out the biggest source of the corruption, namely the Foundation. DIRT had also discovered much of Booker’s infiltration into many agencies, but for unknown reasons, the Attorney General had determined this to be less of a threat.

  Answering only to the Attorney General and having access to MONSTERs, Barbeau exercised significant power, which he applied with subtle subterfuge. He’d learned early on that the Foundation and Booker were locked in a battle over the Spheres and, ultimately, the future, yet the insanity of the Foundation’s Phoenix Initiative remained murky to Barbeau. Because of the Foundation’s blatant and widespread abuse and bribery, disguised as contributions, grants, contract awards, and other various ploys, it was easier to target, so he had no problem with his boss’s directives to follow every Fou
ndation lead.

  For years, Barbeau had believed the Foundation’s actions were based mostly on corporate greed. Recently, however, as more information surfaced about the Phoenix Initiative, he began to piece together the absolute terror of their true motives. Barbeau assumed the Attorney General saw Booker’s empire, although also frequently on the wrong side of the law, as a necessary counterbalance to the Foundation. Booker’s well known “by any means necessary” mantra meant he bribed, stole, “removed” threats, and did whatever else he deemed appropriate to achieve his goals.

  But Barbeau’s once-firm belief in a black and white – right and wrong, good versus evil - world had fallen into many shades of gray, like ashes blowing in the wind. The complexities of the crisis were well beyond him, and in order to have as few of his excruciating, relentless headaches as possible, he wanted to keep it that way.

  When the news of Gaines’ surfacing reached the back rooms of the intelligence community, Barbeau’s DIRT team had picked up the information. With fresh data, as reports poured in and the drama flushed out all sides, the horrific details of the Foundation’s ultimate plan were confirmed. Once Barbeau learned the truth and intent of the secret Phoenix Initiative, a scheme he could barely believe was real, his head pounded constantly and he had hardly slept. The Attorney General ordered all resources available to close in on the Foundation.

  The Attorney General knew the government, over-burdened by massive corruption, could not fight off the Foundation alone. It would be like a brain surgeon operating on himself. Several times over the last few years he’d done things that would help and favor Booker’s side of the epic battle, not out of loyalty to Booker, but as a way to keep a balance of power. Now that assistance was critical to potentially save billions of lives.

  After intercepting a transmission from Stellard, DIRT had learned of the ship of scientists in international waters in the Pacific. Barbeau got a MONSTER to clear the way for US Navy intervention. SEALs boarded the Bright Future and, after a brief firefight during which they overwhelmed Foundation agents and rescued the five authors, Barbeau quietly arranged to release the scientists to Booker’s people in Hawaii.

  Taz, now in custody, was already undergoing a rigorous interrogation. DIRT agents were searching for Stellard, and expected to arrest him within hours. They didn’t have enough to indict the Judge yet, but Barbeau had other ideas.

  During an encrypted conversation with the Attorney General, Barbeau asked for authorization to take more drastic measures. The conversation had been short.

  “That would be too difficult in the current climate,” the Attorney General had said. “For us, anyway. Why don’t you broach the subject with Booker directly?”

  Barbeau agreed, and that would be his first step, but he assumed Booker would have already done it if he could. Barbeau decided that should Booker decline, he’d enlist several top DIRT agents into his plan to assassinate the Judge, even without the Attorney General’s blessing.

  Under Booker’s direction, Huang had been feeding Barbeau and DIRT information for years, but Barbeau had never fully understood the extent of the Foundation threat. Now, however, he knew time was short. He dialed a secret number and waited for several minutes while the call was routed in a ping-pong pattern around the globe. Huang smiled when he saw the incoming communication was from the man he’d helped to free, and someone he knew would be a big help in the continuing fight against the Foundation.

  —O—

  Harmer, after a rough interrogation session, which included shock “therapy,” had been freed by Booker’s operatives in Hawaii. Her liberation had come at a cost—two BLAXERs and four Foundation agents had died. They got her onto a waiting plane with the five scientists where she collapsed into the seat, a nurse tending to her injuries. Also on board was Professor Yamane, whose death had been falsely reported by Honolulu Police. Barring any interference, their plane would land on El Perdido in a few hours. In spite of Harmer’s repeated attempts, none of Booker’s people seemed able to confirm Cira’s status.

  Chapter 65

  “It’s you!” Rip gasped upon seeing Savina across the large INU projection. Booker, excited about the two of them working on the Spheres together, had arranged the video conference to start the process he saw as critical to stopping the Foundation’s Phoenix Initiative.

  Savina seemed surprised to be recognized, but only in the event itself. The fact that he knew what she looked like actually reassured her. “Professor Gaines, a pleasure to finally meet you, and so nice that you’re not dead.”

  “Who are you?” he asked, still in a daze, as if not believing she was real. “And do you really have a Sphere? Has it survived?”

  “Yes,” she said with a smile, moving so he could see the other Sphere.

  “Where did you get it?” he asked.

  Booker was going to break in and suggest they compare notes about their Eysen-Spheres at another time, but he realized the importance of the two brilliant scientists—also the only two people on the planet who’d extensively studied the Spheres—to find their own common point of discovery with each other.

  “The Foundation.”

  “The Foundation has a Sphere? No!” Rip groaned, as if he’d been shot. “How long have they had it?”

  “I’ve been working on it for four years,” Savina said. “But I assure you, it is no matter of concern.”

  “Concern?” Rip barked. “You’re right. Concern is far too mild a term. The Foundation having a Sphere is a matter of Armageddon!”

  “I was hoping you two would agree to work together,” Booker interjected.

  “Together?” Rip was shocked. “Booker, she’s with the Foundation.”

  “Not anymore,” he said, looking at Savina.

  “Is she your prisoner?” Rip asked.

  Savina raised her eyebrows to Booker as if to echo Rip’s question.

  “She is free to go, but I’m going to have to insist on keeping the Foundation Sphere,” Booker said. “I collect them, you know.” He gave her a quick wink and a half-smile.

  “I’m not leaving without the Sphere,” Savina replied.

  “Excellent,” Booker said. “She has agreed to stay. Should I fly her out? Aren’t you desperate to see what happens when we get two Spheres side-by-side?”

  “Absolutely,” Rip said.

  “Of course,” Savina concurred.

  “But her loyalties are with the Foundation,” Rip protested.

  “Rip, if that were true, do you think I would allow her to visit El Perdido?” Booker ventured.

  “How about it?” Rip asked, looking directly at Savina. “Are you finished with the dark side? Will you disavow the Foundation?”

  “Rip, she may not be ready to make that decision yet,” Booker warned, “but I have every confidence that you’ll convince her within hours of her arrival.” He ended his statement with a nod to Rip, which clearly meant, “This is how it is. Trust me.”

  Rip took a deep breath and nodded back. “I guess we’ll see you soon.”

  “I look forward to it,” Savina replied.

  “She’ll be there in three hours.” Booker signed off and then suggested Savina try to get some sleep on the plane.

  The woman who had taken her to Booker’s private office appeared with a small duffle bag. She led Savina to a helipad concealed in a large open cavern and explained that there were clothes and toiletries in the bag. There would be food and water available on the plane.

  As the helicopter flew out of the cave, Savina reached for the beautiful array of sushi and realized she hadn’t said goodbye to Booker. But sitting next to her was the silver case with the Sphere, so Savina knew she’d see him again.

  Chapter 66

  Gale and Rip walked out onto the skyroom balcony overlooking the Pacific. Rip told her, with uncharacteristically grand gestures and lavish descriptions, of floating in the blackness and seeing the woman with the other Eysen-Sphere. “It was Savina.”

  “She’s with the F
oundation,” Gale said. “She’s the enemy. We’ve been fighting her, without realizing it, for years.”

  “I know.”

  “And what did the Foundation learn from their Sphere? Are we lost? Have they won?”

  “We’re about to have both Spheres, and I suppose we’re going to learn what they learned,” Rip said. “It’s difficult to imagine someone having so much knowledge of the Sphere that she could use it to reach me, yet not being affected by it. Not understanding the malicious intent of the Foundation.”

  “We were never able to find the other Sphere,” Gale mused. “What else has Savina discovered that we haven’t?”

  Rip slowly shook his head, staring into the distance. “The possibilities of the two Spheres, of another field of research . . . it’s thrilling to imagine.”

  “Look,” Gale said, pointing at a plane.

  Even though they were expecting Cira, an approaching plane still made them nervous. It turned out to be the doctor and a nurse from the eye institute. The team went right to work preparing for Cira’s arrival. Staff had already readied Cira’s old first-floor room, and now with equipment brought by the doctor, they converted it into a full-fledged hospital room.

  —O—

  The next plane was the one they’d been waiting for. Huang had messaged them giving them fifteen minutes to prepare for Cira’s arrival. Gale, Rip, and the medical team stood at the end of the runway. Although they’d been warned that Cira would still be sedated, Gale kept thinking that she would run from the plane yelling “Mommy, Mommy!”

  That didn’t happen, yet the sight of her daughter, safely returned, left her crying. Regret for all the time their daughter had been alone, in danger, and how close they had come to losing her, kept the tears flowing.

  When Cira was safely in her darkened room, the doctor began his examination. “There is only so much I can tell at this point,” he said, “but our protocols were followed, and she suffered no apparent damage during her travels.”