See No More

by W B Dineen

  It turns out it’s not quite as bad as the Supreme Scream ride at Knott's Berry Farm, but WAY the heck more thrilling than your average elevator trip. “How many stories down does this thing go?”

  He cocks his head to the side. “This one takes us down twenty-two floors or two hundred and forty-two feet. I’ve heard there are deeper levels, but those are need to know and I don’t need to know.”

  If you include the three for the parking garage, we’re now twenty-five stories under the desert. Which is a quarter of the Empire State Building or six Beverly Hills Hotels stacked on top of each other. I look around wild-eyed at my companions. I sure hope this thing was well-constructed.

  Jake puts his arm around me at the same time my mom declares, “It’s called taphophobia. It’s a real thing.”

  “What’s taphophobia?” I ask.

  “The fear of being buried alive.”

  Well, thank you, Little Mary Sunshine! What the hell kind of thing is that to say to your kid? I’m seriously questioning Bethanie’s mothering instincts when I take a good look at her. She’s clearly as terrified as I am right now. I reach over and take her hand and I don’t let go until we get to the lab.

  CHAPTER 72

  Our first stop is a conference room where we wait for Tony. There’s a lot of ambient noise down here. Dad says it’s because of the filters and oxygen pumps running all the time. Then of course there’s the heating unit because apparently, we aren’t as close to the center of the Earth as it feels like, and the ground temperature is only around fifty-five degrees.

  I try to imagine what all the layers of the planet look like this far down. Then I think about earthquakes. I ask no one in particular, “Do building all of these underground bunkers affect fault lines?” In California, we’re always on the lookout for the “Big One” to hit and knock us off the map entirely.

  My dad fields the question. “Shallow earthquakes are ones that occur in the top forty miles of the earth’s crust. The quake that hit Tronto, Italy in 2016 was one of the shallowest, which is why it caused such destruction. Its depth was between two-and-a-half miles to six miles deep. A mile is fifty-two hundred and eighty feet. We’re fewer than three hundred feet here, so we’re not causing any trouble.”

  Oddly, this does make me feel safer and a little bit braver. Tony joins us at 10:00 a.m. on the dot. He looks like hell. His hair is disheveled, and his clothes are rumpled like he’s slept in them. Nikolay embraces him. “You look bad, boy.”

  Tony nods his head. “It was a rough night.”

  Theo reaches out to shake his hand. “Your father?”

  Tony sighs. “Yeah. I’m not exactly sure how welcome I’ll be the next time I see him.”

  I want a piece of this. “What happened? Did we leave anything behind? Is he suspicious we were there?” I had a dream last night that I left a note on every bed in all ten bedrooms that said, “Kate Randolph was here.” Crazy, I know, but that was one seriously stressful morning. I wasn’t sure we’d get away.

  Tony shakes his head. “No, you did a good job getting out. Plus, my dad travels with his own household staff who go right to work setting up everything the way he likes it. The problem occurred when I confronted him about his chip. I said that if I had to walk around like a dog from the pound, why does he think he doesn’t have to?”

  Tony sits down and pours himself a cup of coffee. “He doesn’t like to be challenged, but I was pissed. My God, if our contact at JPL hadn’t tipped us off, you all wouldn’t be here right now.”

  Theo walks over to a dry erase board and wipes it down. “How did you leave it with him?”

  “I said I was out if he wasn’t going to play by the rules. I think he’s worried about how much influence he has over me.”

  I grab a donut off a plate on the conference table. “What do you think he’ll do?”

  “He’ll either decide I’m a liability and remove me, get re-chipped, or make sure I never catch him in a lie again.”

  I choke on some of the powdered sugar on my cruller. “By remove you, do you mean kill you?”

  “That’s exactly what I mean. The only thing that might stop him is that I’m his only heir and only chance of having his bloodline continue his dream.”

  Theo writes a string of numbers on the board and stops to look at them before erasing the whole thing and starting over. “Did you find out why he came to town?”

  Tony sits down. “Yeah, I did. It appears Fareed has been found.” He lets his proclamation hang in the air for a moment before clarifying, “Cut up pretty severely, and floating on top of the Los Angeles reservoir—along with all those black plastic balls.”

  In 2015, the city of Los Angeles bought ninety-six million plastic balls to float on top of the reservoir to reduce evaporation. They got them for a steal at only thirty-six cents each, and they estimate it saves three hundred million gallons of water a year from evaporating. For a city in serious drought, that’s a lot of water.

  I stick out my tongue. “That’s why I only drink bottled water. I don’t care how much you filter it or how many chemicals you add, yuck!”

  My dad pragmatically asks, “How long do they think he’s been in there? Those balls could have kept his corpse from being discovered for a long time.”

  Tony nods his head in agreement. “They estimate three weeks, so right about the time you fell off the face of the earth again.”

  Jake interjects, “Thank God you took that tail seriously, Theo, or both you and Niko might have been history, as well.”

  Dad works on writing another string of numbers. “Who does your dad think is behind it?”

  “He’s not sure, but his contacts think it was an inside job. My father is beginning to question the loyalty of one of the Trēdecim, a guy by the name of Stefano Angoli. He thinks Stefano knows where the weapon is but is holding out on everyone. He tried to use this as his excuse for having his chip removed, not wanting Stefano to know he was close to figuring out his secret.”

  I ask, “Stefano Angoli, the olive oil guy?”

  “He started out in olive oil, but he’s diversified into technology. Anyway, apparently my dad has been watching Stef for some time and has his doubts the Italian is playing by the rules. He thinks he’s vying to take the number one spot in the Trēdecim and will secure that seat by producing the weapon when the time is right.”

  This is news to me. “The Trēdecim aren’t all equal? How can that be? If there’s a hierarchy among them then there’s one person who holds the most power over the whole world! Tony, who is that?”

  “My father.” And suddenly, I realize how close we came to the end of our run. I drove by the most powerful man on the planet and lived to tell the tale. Please God, may I never come that close to him again.

  CHAPTER 73

  There are no atheists in a fox hole. Translation, when your ass is grass, you pray accordingly, to any deity who wants to offer a hand. I know the Lord’s Prayer, the Twenty-Third Psalm, and the lyrics to “Kumbaya,” and they’re all running on a loop through my head. If I knew any Buddhist chants or Jewish tefillas, I’d be going to town on those, as well.

  Dad takes us into his lab and briefly shows us around. I have no idea what I’m looking at but do my best to act impressed. So far, we haven’t run into anyone else and I ask, “Where are all the people who belong to the cars in the parking lot?”

  Nikolay replies, “They don’t work with us. We only have four employees in the lab.”

  “Where are they?”

  My dad smiles, “They’re around.” Then there’s a knock on the door. Dad calls out, “Come in.” And in walks a beautiful—scratch that, ravishing—no, astonishingly breathtakingly gorgeous woman. Seriously, wow! Like she’s so stunning I have an immediate girl crush on her.

  What is this woman doing three hundred feet under Twentynine Palms? She should be the cover girl for every magazine ever invented and the star of every movie made from now until her looks fade, which I’m willing to bet will
be never.

  My dad smiles, “Ah, Trina. Thank you for the donuts and coffee.” And then she smiles. Trina? The woman from the cemetery? I don’t even know how that’s possible. While she looks like she could be distantly related to the woman I met at the graveyard, that’s about as close as it gets.

  I look at my mom in fear she’s going to jump on the Amazon and rip her red hair out by the roots, but she doesn’t seem at all bothered.

  Theo introduces us using our first names only. “Trina, this is my wife Bethanie and my daughter Kate. Beth, Katie, this is Trina. She’s been working on our project for the last several months.”

  I look over at Jake to see what his reaction is, but he seems pretty chill like he did at the grave site. He doesn’t seem at all aware that Trina looks way different than she did a couple of weeks ago.

  Trina reaches to shake my hand and when her skin touches mine, I experience another reality shift and I hear the following conversation in my head.

  Trina: I can tell that you see me differently than you did the last time we met. That is good.

  Me: What the hell’s happening? I’m hearing voices in my head.

  Trina: Just my voice. I wanted to assure you I am watching out for the men in your life. I will protect them as best as I can.

  Me: Holy shit, I’m going insane, aren’t I?

  Trina: No, Kate, you are not. You are perfectly sane.

  Me: Trina, do you talk to the others like this? Do they know you can do this?

  Trina: I do not. I played the music for them, but it did not open their eyes to me. I can only converse with those who see me as I really am.

  Me: The music did this? It was beautiful, unlike anything I’ve ever heard before.

  Trina: I will give you more to you use with the children you work with. It is music from my world. It has the power to open minds and calibrate brains to higher frequency and greater harmony.

  Me: Oh, my God, you’re an alien, aren’t you?

  Trina: Only on your planet. On my own I am considered quite normal. (There’s a lot of humor in her voice when she says this.)

  Me: Why don’t you tell the others?

  Trina: It is not time.

  Me: Why?

  Trina: Kate, there are things you do not yet understand. But know this. I am here to promote knowledge and enlightenment. I am here to protect from harm where I can.

  Me: Do you know about the Trēdecim?

  Trina: Yes. They are why I am here.

  Me: Why are you here, again?

  Trina: To protect your planet.

  Me: Will you succeed?

  Trina: Not without your help.

  Me: Then you have it.

  Trina: I am placing the light on you.

  Me: Um, thanks.

  Trina: You are most welcome.

  Now, here’s the shocker. This entire conversation occurs in the amount of time it takes to shake this woman’s hand. By the time she turns to take my mother’s, I’m not sure if any of it really happened.

  CHAPTER 74

  After Trina leaves, we settle on our strategy. We’re no longer on the journey we started in Albany. There have been twists, turns, and derailments all over the place. We’ve run for our lives, questioned the loyalty of our friends, come to trust someone who represents the enemy, and met an alien. No, I haven’t forgotten that part.

  You know how dreams can seem so vibrant and real in the moment, and then by the time you wake-up they’re less so, and by the afternoon they might as well have never happened? Eventually they fade into oblivion and only resurface in déjà vu. My exchange with Trina is nothing like that.

  The more minutes that pass, the more I’m convinced she really is who she says she is, and that she’s here to be of assistance. I don’t know if she can shoot lasers out of her eyes or bend steel with her bare hands, but I believe she can really help and that thought gives me an incredible amount of peace. She’s the one thing since this mess has started that makes me think it’s possible to get the antimatter weapon back.

  We meet two other people while we’re here. The first is a youngish man in his twenties. He barely talks, doesn’t smile, and makes no eye contact whatsoever. I try to reach him with my mind to see if he’s an extraterrestrial, but there’s no indication he hears my somewhat lascivious suggestion—which I don’t mean, I’m just trying to get a rise out of him, as it were.

  The other person we’re introduced to is a much older woman. By much older, I mean like around seventy. She looks like a grandmother and I have an overwhelming urge to hug her. She doesn’t respond to my telepathic request for chocolate chip cookies though, so I’m guessing she’s human.

  Tony will not go back to his house in Pasadena right away. He’ll move into one of the underground bunkers in the lab facility for the near future. The only problem is that while he’s here he won’t know where the Trēdecim are, so he’ll have to return at some point.

  Going back to Caltech is on hold, as well. Eileen Feldman is in the hospital on life support. We’ve learned the other two people who received notes have both taken last minute vacations, and Fareed is dead. There seems to be nothing more for us there at the moment.

  I grumble, “Have we accomplished anything in all this time?”

  My dad looks over from the board he’s been writing numbers on. “Katie, yes! We’ve all come together as one unit and we know where not to look anymore. Also, thanks to Tony’s father, we have an idea who’s in possession of the actual gun. We’ve accomplished a tremendous amount!”

  “But how do we find out for sure if this Angoli guy really has the weapon?”

  And then, hand to God, I hear Trina in my head. “He is the one, Kate.”

  So, I change my tact. “Say he’s the one, do we all get on a plane for Italy and force him to give it to us? I can’t see that working.”

  Trina again, “Set a trap, Kate. Have Tony call him privately and express interest in meeting. Make him think Tony’s allegiance doesn’t necessarily belong to his father. A man of his ego will take pleasure in the idea of stealing the son’s loyalty away from the current leader of the Trēdecim.”

  Like my other contact with the alien, her messages seem instantaneous, like no time elapses between my question and her response. I don’t know why I trust Trina so implicitly, but I do. I don’t wait for someone else to talk, I merely repeat her suggestion.

  My father likes the idea, a lot. “Great thinking, Katie.” Then he puts his dry-erase marker down and walks over to the head of the table where he stands looking at us all. “We need to make this Stefano think Tony has the blueprint for the weapon. Even if he already possesses the actual device, he won’t want anyone else to know how to make one.”

  Nikolay nods his head. “We need to lure him to a place where we have the upper hand.”

  Jake picks up his coffee cup and puts it down without taking a sip. “We need to get him to come to Albany.”

  And just like that, the plan is set. Trina says, “Kate, ask Tony where his chip is implanted.”

  So, I do. He indicates a spot at the back of his neck. Trina instructs, “Go over and touch it.”

  Um, okay. I’ve not laid hands on Tony, so this might seem weird, but I do as she says and walk over to him. I put my fingers on the location she indicated. As I do, I feel an electrical pulse shoot through my hand. I jump back as though I’ve been shocked, but Tony gives no indication he notices anything.

  I send Trina the following message, “What the hell was that?”

  “I deactivated his tracking device for his father. The other Trēdecim will still know where he is, but his father will think his son has had his chip removed in an act of defiance.”

  I respond, “So his dad will think he’s declaring war on him, cementing a divide in their relationship?”

  I obviously don’t see her smile, because she’s not in the room, but I feel her smile. “Correct. Tony’s father will think he has dropped the gauntlet and he will most probably tell the other memb
ers of the Trēdecim that his son cannot be trusted. The rest of the group will think Tony’s father is losing his mind, because they will still be able to track Tony.”

  I surmise, “And they’ll turn on their leader and look for someone new to follow.”

  “Yes. Those who do not vie for the position of leader themselves, that is.”

  CHAPTER 75

  We’re back at the safe house in Palm Springs and I decide to see how far this telepathy thing with my new friend stretches. “Trina, can you hear me? Come in, Trina?” That last part sounds like a bad movie, but I’m new to this game.

  “I am here, Kate. How are you?”

  I raise my eyebrows in surprise and look around to make sure I’m still the only one hearing her. “I want to know if I’m ever going to go back to my own life again.”

  “That is a big question. I cannot say at this time, but remember all things are possible. For now, you are not a big concern for the Trēdecim.”

  “Then who’s been following us and blowing up tunnels and shooting at us?”

  She answers, “That was perpetrated by Tony’s father. He has been concerned about Angoli for some time and felt if he followed the scientists who worked on the actual weapon, it would eventually lead him to the gun. He also hoped to discover one of the scientists had a blueprint for the weapon, so he could get to work on his bigger version.”

  Pardon my French, but holy shit! “You mean my mom and I have never been targets in this thing?”

  “Do not misunderstand me, Kate. While you did not start out that way, you most definitely are now. At least until we see how the conflict between Tony’s father and this Italian person resolves itself.”

  I could have probably walked away from Jake and Niko at my dad’s burial site. I could have gone back to my own life and lived like I did before going to Oregon. I try to gauge how I feel about that and keep coming back to the same answer. I made the right decision.

  My mind has been blown open like a live grenade in a watermelon, but I’ve gotten to know my dad and understand why he left. I’ve learned my mother is incredibly strong, and I’ll spend my life being thankful she’s mine. I think I’m falling for an amazing guy, who I might just have a long-term future with. And finally, I’ve met a real live alien. You couldn’t write a better script.