by W D County
Kingpin frowned. “What does that have to do with your device?”
“My device uses that underlying principle of multiple realities. It ‘peeks’ into the quadrillions of possible locations of atoms in a solid barrier, and finds a combination in which none of the atoms there block the path of the atoms in the object passing through that barrier.”
“That doesn’t explain the appearance of the explorers,” grumbled Kingpin.
Brainiac shrugged. “The MRI isn’t designed to project a precisely controlled field beyond the expected target bed. A fluctuation in the field must have accessed the parallel reality where the explorers were located.”
When Doc and Mopes finished processing the first explorer, I called Kingpin and asked him to watch the other explorers via the conference room monitor. He agreed, and I marched Explorer One down the hall to room 9 and cuffed him to the bed rail. Far as I could tell, he didn’t have the ability to pass through solid objects. The zombie routine wasn’t an act, but no one knew when it might end or what personality would emerge when it did. The cuffs helped minimize the chance of an unwelcome surprise.
I repeated the process with the remaining two explorers to rooms 10 and 11, securing them to the beds in the same manner as the first. Upon exiting room 11, I saw Zita and Slick walking toward me. Hand in hand.
“We need to lock their doors,” Slick said. He knew my keycard had been downgraded and his greasy smile rubbed it in. Was he the reason Zita was avoiding me?
“I’m on my way to Maxwell,” I said. Kingpin’s card had the authority to override the locks on the residence rooms, in effect turning them into jail cells.
“Don’t bother. He had Colonel Hauser upgrade my card.” Slick’s smile widened. It made a tempting target for my fist, but Zita stepped between us before I could swing.
“Miles,” she said, “can you show me the video of the demo? It may have clues to what happened.”
“Yeah.” I spun on my heel and she followed me to the security office. Oddly enough, she kept quiet. Probably thinking up a diplomatic way to say she’d dumped me in favor of Slick. On second thought, why would she bother? We were never an item. More likely she suspected that I suspected that she’d been involved in sabotage.
Once inside the room, Zita said, “The three explorers aren’t the only new arrivals. John Dubov is in Laura’s room.”
“What?” My mind threatened to freeze up, clogged with too many concerns. I pushed the sabotage issue to the bottom of my list of concerns. “The dead husband?”
“He’s very much alive. Not catatonic, either.”
“How’d he get here? How do you know he isn’t just an illusion like before?”
“He isn’t an illusion.” She held up her wrist and displayed a Pavlok. “A maximum strength jolt didn’t clear him from my mind.”
Questions popped into my mind faster than I could spit them out. “When did you see him? Where? Is he gray?”
“Where isn’t important. I only caught a glimpse of bare skin, but I think he has normal coloration. He’s been in Laura’s room for about two hours now.”
“Two hours! You should have called me immediately.”
Zita’s cheeks darkened in a blush. “Circumstances didn’t permit it.”
“You didn’t answer when I called you. Same circumstances?”
She nodded.
One thing came to mind, an ugly image but one that explained the hand holding, the blush, the decision not to answer my call. “Nathan,” I said, surprising myself with the venom poured into that one word.
She looked surprised, and then she laughed. “Miles, it’s not like—”
“None of my business,” I snapped. “It’s your decision who to be with.” Unless it involves sabotage and treason to the United States.
“Bothers you that much, does it?”
I cued up the infirmary video while shoving my feelings into a mental dungeon and locking the door. If a person can’t feel, he can’t be hurt. Steampunk could do whatever she damn well pleased. It didn’t matter to me. Romantically at least. The altered surveillance records were a different story.
She touched my arm and I snatched it away. She sighed and said, “It was an act, Miles. I’m a spy in the enemy camp.”
“Liar.” I turned and saw in her face a mix of emotions. Hurt, concern, frustration, affection. Especially affection. She touched my arm again. I decided not to confront her about the sabotaged videos. Not yet, anyway. I did my best to dampen my emotions. “You’re not... attracted to him?” Why the hell did I say that?
An impish smile matched the gleam in her eyes. “Jealous?”
“Of course not,” I sputtered. “Just worried about you falling for his charms.”
“Not likely. He likes to brag and if he could read my mind he couldn’t help flaunting it so I’m pretty sure he can’t read me probably because my mind is too fast.” She grew serious. “But not so fast as it was before the hypnosis. Anyway, play the video and pause at the moment Doc uncovers the monkey.” She studied the frozen image, then asked me to pull up the vids of the vault for the same instant in time on adjacent monitors.
I did so and zoomed in until Choirboy’s images filled three screens.
“Can you play Fletcher’s video of the Antarctic explorers?”
On an adjacent monitor, I fast-forwarded the video that started it all, pausing the action just prior to the explorers’ disappearance. Her attention bounced among the screens. The colorimeter let me pretend to study the taint with her. I didn’t have a clue what to look for on the screen. But I knew what to look for on her face. Surprise.
Now was the time. “You look worried. Is it because that’s part of the video you and Slick altered?”
She froze. A look of concern morphed to panic and gradually to resolve.
“Yes. I expected to have to mentally unscramble the images, but the record is back to its original state so it’s obvious that the sabotage was detected and countered, an amazing feat since I didn’t think anyone in the world would notice the differences and especially since no one in the world should have been able to undo the alteration.”
Under stress, Zita spoke fast and long. One of her “tells.”
“Why?”
“You know why! Images of the taint open a person’s mind to an alien intelligence, and we don’t know if that alien entity is benign or hostile and until we do, opening the minds of our senior military and government leaders creates a huge vulnerability.”
“Nathan didn’t put you up to it?”
“No, all my idea. I convinced him to help me break into this office.”
That nugget of information relieved some of my tension.
She looked deep into my eyes. “Are you going to arrest me?”
Her actions were legally wrong but morally right. Determining the appropriate response to that dilemma required someone way above my pay grade. “Nope.”
Relief flooded her face and she leaned forward to plant an all-too-brief kiss on my cheek. Heat instantly rose to my face. She pulled back and switched her attention to the screens.
“Look at these,” she said, pointing out three areas on Choirboy and on the tesseract.
I fiddled with my colorimeter and a pattern suddenly appeared, like a target in camo that doesn’t quite blend in with the background. Three spots on Choirboy looked a whole lot like three spots on the tesseract. “Huh. The same images on both.”
“Almost. They’re mirror images,” she said.
I centered one of the patches on Choirboy and magnified it further, and then did the same for the tesseract video. I flipped the images horizontally and then vertically, then scratched my head. “They don’t quite match.” My gut said they should have.
Zita bit her lips and avoided my gaze. “Close enough. Back up the vids a couple minutes and play them in slow speed.” She hunched over the monitors like a hawk scanning a field for mice. Brows knit in concentration, she completely ignored me. I couldn’t do the same. I
didn’t like the vibes coming from her. What was she hiding?
“I’ll need to study these closer, and also the vids of the physics lab when Sonja zapped Doc’s clothing.”
“Why? What do you think’s going on?”
“I’m not sure, but the taint could be providing identification of an object and location for where to teleport it. Or them.” She leaned back, frowning. “Run the vids again, please.”
I pointed to the clock. “After dinner.”
Chapter 41
Nathan knocked on the door to the team lead’s office and entered when the man grunted an acknowledgment. “Hey, Gordon, got a minute?” He touched a finger to his forehead and added, “No need to answer. I know you do.”
Gordon frowned and Nathan decided to abandon the humorous approach. “Seriously, we need to talk.”
“About?”
“The video records that Doc and Miles sabotaged.”
The frown deepened. “You found out more about Harrison?”
“No. Not yet. Barry fixed some of the videos. The one here and Hauser’s copy.”
Gordon leaned back in his chair. “The brass will be embarrassed since their people weren’t the ones to fix it.” His intense stare fell on Nathan. “A new ability for Barry?”
Nathan shrugged. “His paranormal abilities are growing exponentially. I don’t know what his limits are. If there are any.” He put exactly the right emphasis on the words, guiding Gordon’s thoughts in the desired direction.
“You were supposed to take care of Miles,” Gordon said. “What happened?”
“I realized he’s more valuable as a tool.” Nathan hesitated. He watched Gordon’s thoughts closely and adjusted the conversation accordingly. “In case Barry becomes too much of a threat.”
“I’m surprised reason won out over emotion.” Gordon’s frown vanished. “Thanks for the update.” His tone indicated dismissal.
Nathan didn’t leave. He needed Gordon’s cooperation for the next step. “I think you should consider a live broadcast of Barry to the public.”
The frown returned. “They’re top secret.”
The note of finality didn’t deter Nathan, not with Gordon’s thoughts shouting “why?”
“Barry wants the world to see.” The lie came easily. Barry didn’t care, but Nathan could only read minds of people who had seen the taint.
Gordon sneered. “He wants the world to see him imprisoned. If he garners enough public sympathy, it’ll force Washington to order his release. Jesus, Nathan, you sound like Laura.”
“That’s not it. In fact, he’ll be satisfied if we only release his video of the Antarctic expedition with views of the tesseract. A live show would be better, but we absolutely need to get some view of the taint released.”
Gordon’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”
“Some paranormal abilities only work on people who’ve seen the taint, or a video of it.”
“You lost me.”
“Barry says it’s like priming a pump. Our minds, everyone’s minds, need to be primed so the sleeping parts of the brain wake up.”
“Still not following.”
“I can read minds, but only of those who’ve seen the pattern of the taint or of the tesseract.” He could sense the wheels turning in Gordon’s head, could almost see the gears finally engage.
“Ah. That’s why you can’t read Miles.”
Nathan put on a broad smile to hide the irritation at the reminder. “Right. But I can read Hauser’s mind, for example, and the minds of higher-ups who’ve seen the uncorrupted video.”
Gordon smiled back. It didn’t fool Nathan. I can read your mind, boss man, even if I can’t broadcast to it. The team leader regarded Nathan as a threat. That needed to change.
“Think about your career at the NSA. You expect a promotion to come out of this assignment, and you’ll most likely get it. And then what? Wait five years hoping for another opportunity as you watch others pass you by?
“With me at your side, an ally and a tool, you would leapfrog everyone. I’d tell you the thoughts of everyone around you. Imagine knowing everyone’s secrets.”
He felt Gordon take the bait. Time to set the hook. He took two folded sheets of paper from his pocket and slid them across the desk to Gordon. “Call Admiral Turner, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Tell him exactly what’s on the first paper. “Do the same with Dick Tombs, using the second paper. The results will illustrate my point.”
Gordon unfolded the papers and rapidly scanned their contents. His eyes widened. “This stuff true?”
“They’ve seen the video. I can read their minds. It’s true, every detail.” He paused, then added, “Imagine what I could do for you if I could read any mind on the planet.”
Gordon did imagine it, and Nathan took delight in sharing those thoughts. An opportune moment presented itself, and Nathan said quietly, “Of course, things go terribly awry if Barry decides to give everyone the power of telepathy.”
Gordon’s thoughts went immediately in the desired direction.
***
Laura sat at the main console of the observation room, reluctant to turn on the camera and microphone yet driven by the desperate need to talk with Barry. Was he divine, a new messiah, savior to the world? Was he a mortal man caught up in events beyond his control, a prisoner and a guinea pig? No, certainly not a mere mortal. But perhaps not yet a god, either. Maybe he was a human caterpillar, and the taint a cocoon covering him up, transforming him into an angelic butterfly. He raised the dead, restoring John to me. I owe him.
She turned on the mic and camera. She tried to smile. “Hello, Barry.”
“Good afternoon, Laura.” He moved closer to the camera until his face filled her screen. “You look troubled.”
She sighed and almost broke into a sob. “I’m so very grateful to you. You brought John back from the dead. Made me want to live again. And I feel so guilty, not stopping Doc from trying to put you in a coma. And for doubting you, thinking you were delusional.” Then she did cry, unable to hold back.
“Laura, I forgive you. You redeemed yourself, and I love you as a sister and a friend. Now tell me, why did you really come here?”
She sniffed back the tears. “It’s John. He says he feels pulled, an invisible force trying to drag him back to the land of the dead.” She knew that wasn’t literally true, but it felt true and sometimes feelings were more valid than facts.
“In your dream, did I not hold the string? I will not let go, I have bound him to it and it to me. So long as I live, John will abide in my world.”
“What if you die?” Fear made her voice tremble.
“I cannot die. I shall rise like Christ, resurrected and fully divine.”
“But if you die, and the taint doesn’t bring you back...” She shuddered.
He smiled. “You must have faith.”
“I do.” Yet doubt ate at her faith like termites chewing beneath the bark of a tree. It looked strong from the outside, but holes riddled the core. “No one cares about you, only about what you can do for them. And Miles, he wants you dead.”
“No one wants me dead,” Barry said. “As you said, I’m too valuable.”
Her need to believe was stronger than her professional training. She ignored the fleeting twist of sarcasm on his lips.
“I don’t know why Gordon doesn’t just let the taint go to one hundred percent. Getting it over with is better than this perpetual anxiety.”
“Perhaps he will. The end-times approach, Laura.”
“What do you mean?”
Barry didn’t answer. He closed his eyes and sat in a lotus posture, floating serenely a foot above his bed.
Chapter 42
The colonel surprised me by sending down a fancy dinner of steak and lobster, baked potatoes, salads, and a cake with “Job Well Done” printed in bold letters across the top. I wondered what Kingpin had said to get that response. Certainly not the truth, since by my count we had more unanswered questions and conce
rns than we’d started with. I’d breathe a lot easier tomorrow when the reinforcements showed up.
The team looked happy even before they saw the food. Kingpin entered with Slick at his side, the two men engaged in quiet discourse punctuated with nods and smiles. Doc accompanied Brainiac, both chuckling at some witticism. Zita took a seat next to Slick, touched his arm and favored him with an overly friendly smile. Knowing it was an act didn’t make it easier to watch.
Mopes arrived last. She paused at the door and said, “Good evening, everyone! I want you to meet my husband, John.” She stepped aside and a middle-aged man entered. Conversation stopped as we regarded the newcomer. He stood about six foot two, had close-cropped medium dark hair, and weighed somewhere between two-ten and two twenty-five. He wore jeans and a striped shirt. Zita hadn’t told me anything to label him a threat, and as far as I could tell he didn’t carry any weapons. The observation didn’t stop my hand from resting on the butt of my gun.
Kingpin lifted an arm in greeting. “Welcome to the team, John. I’m Gordon Maxwell, team leader.” He turned to me. “Miles, set another plate for our guest.”
What the fuck was wrong with everyone? A stranger appears out of thin air in an underground maximum security military facility, and everyone greets him like a friend? Everyone but Zita, and she wasn’t acting normal either. She stared at her plate and shrank into her chair as if wanting to disappear. What did she know that she hadn’t shared?
I added a place setting and the couple took their seats. Kingpin said, “This has been a most productive day. Kudos to all of you. Before we introduce ourselves to John and summarize our key discoveries, I have an announcement.” He stood, smiled, and took a breath so deep his chest puffed out like a rooster. “I’ve been appointed as the Deputy National Security Advisor, effective the first of next month.”