by C L Amos
The medic nodded, “Yes! They will be out for at least 8 hours after the dose we administered… that should give you more than enough time to ship and secure them in the lab.”
The commander took his finger and drew a circle in the air, “Let’s get them loaded!!”
A soldier approached frantically, “Sir, sir, I am afraid we have only secured four targets!”
The commander shouted, “What? Who?”
The soldier cowered nervously, “We retrieved them from the lounge, but it appears Tom somehow slipped through the net.”
The commander kicked the dust in frustration, “Well, I suggest that you and your men start sweeping. Burn every building, tree and blade of grass in the vicinity if you have to… I want him caught!”
He looked down at his watch and shook his head, “Load the other four onto the helicopter and get them back to base.”
Once the four were secured, the commander tapped the door of the helicopter and motioned for it to take off. The bellowing black smoke followed the helicopter for miles before tapering off and dissipating into the surrounding air.
Chapter 14 MIA
Tom sat in the back of the helicopter. He tried to keep himself out of sight as he hid on top of the storage bin stationed behind the three seats at the back of the plane. He had no idea what he was doing or what he would do next. He had awoken to the commotion downstairs and like a little boy had hidden under the bed. He saw two soldiers come up the staircase through the gap under the door. One went left and the other ran right. One of them came into his room and started checking the around, then he shouted to his colleague, “All Clear… I need to have a quick piss though!” Tom could see the other man on the staircase. He shouted up as he made his way down. “Fuck, Mike, those steroids are going to be the death of you one of these days.”
Tom shifted into his boomslang snake and crept up on the soldier, bit him and held on, injecting every last drop of venom into the man. His quickened heartrate from the steroids sped up the effects of the toxin and killed him almost instantly. Tom shifted back and changed into the soldier’s uniform, dragged the body from the in-suite bathroom and hid it under the bed. He clipped the gas mask over his face and made his way down the stairs. He arrived at the study as the helicopter landed behind the house, when a medic asked him to grab the one side of the gurney and help him load it. He looked down and saw it was Sasha on the bed; he tried not to stare but, in his mind, he wished that it was her pushing him on the bed. She would at least have an idea of what she was doing - all he knew was that he was playing a very dangerous game and that at any second he could be caught out.
He kept his head low as they approached the chopper and jumped on first to pull the gurney up. He helped the medic secure it in the back of the chopper. The medic went and spoke to the pilot, and while his back was turned, Tom dove behind the three-seats at the back of the chopper.
The chopper flew for three hours before finally touching down on the helipad, where both Damien and Marcelle stood waiting for the arrival of their precious cargo.
Marcelle looked annoyed, “We should have waited; now we have a fiveling on the loose.”
Damien was equally unimpressed, “My commander had a man on the inside. It was supposed to be a simple sweep and collect.”
Marcelle looked at him, “I don’t like excuses!!”
“We have his sister… it shouldn’t be too difficult to coax him out of his hole; we just have to push the right buttons.”
Marcelle watched the four being offloaded. “You’d better push the right buttons and you’d better start pushing them quickly. Speaking of which, have we taken care of our other little problem?”
Damien smiled, “The council members?”
Marcelle squinted, “Yes, the council members!”
“I have added a few of my men to each of their security details. As soon as we give the order, they will take them out, ensuring sole control of this council remains in your hands.”
Marcelle smiled, “And no one will suspect it’s us?”
Damien laughed, “We will brand it as retaliation for the execution of the Faction leaders. You will, of course, be wounded in the attack, but nothing too serious. You will rise as the courageous victor.”
Marcelle watched Sasha come off last, “Let’s get down to the lab, I want to oversee every process of this move.” Damien nodded; he showed the all-clear and the chopper readied for take-off. He watched the chopper gain altitude, oblivious to the fact that the one he sought was slipping from his grasp.
Marcelle greeted Dr. Dylan with a dismissive flick of the wrist, “Wait your turn.” She pointed to the cells and instructed her guards to check them and strip them back down to basics - removing everything except the toilet and basin combination. “They can sleep on the floor!” She pointed at the toilets, “Check them for loose or suspicious items” She turned to the medics, “Strip them and search their cavities. I am not taking any chances. These three are trained assassins. Do not underestimate them for a single second, because I can guarantee you it will be the last second you live.”
She watched them each being placed into the holding cell and called Dylan over, “Now it’s your turn!”
Dylan fixed the glasses on his nose, “Essentially I have turned this whole laboratory into a Faraday Cage. From the research and my own recordings and observations they are highly susceptible to large bursts of electromagnetic energy, very similar to the electrostatic discharge of a lightning bolt.”
Marcelle looked doubtful, “And this fab…rash...ay cage will contain it?”
Dylan corrected her, “Faraday Cage. Yes. It will fry everything inside this perimeter, meaning that any uncontrolled surge will effectively kill everyone in the room, and more importantly, their loved ones occupying the neighboring cells.”
Marcelle winced, “And what if we are inside here when they go off?”
Dylan smiled, “Everyone entering the room will be issued with a Faraday suit. The surge might knock you off your feet, but it won’t kill you.”
Marcelle smiled, “And you are sure of this?”
Dylan nodded, “It’s all in the science. They didn’t have this technology a thousand years ago to stop this type of surge… that is why fivelings were sent miles away from people… or in a few instances, into enemy towns. There are also a few rare accounts where Sharmanas were said to have been able to control or redirect the force, but these are less factual. These accounts are more a sort of religious dogma and don’t have a direct source… sort of a religious myth, if you would.”
Marcelle nodded and turned “Good work, Dylan, your family will be relieved that you are working so hard.” She smiled sarcastically, “Enjoy your evening, and I will see you first thing in the morning.”
Chapter 15 Unification
Tom’s heart sank as the chopper lifted back into the air. They evened out and Tom noticed that the pilot had started closing the door. He jumped over the seat and rolled over and out to the closing door as the chopper banked left. Tom dropped about 14 ft. before shifting into his hawk and stabilizing himself in the air where he headed towards the farm, alone and uncertain of what he would even find. The smoke hung like smog around the base of the mountains, the once luscious green fields replaced with black, scorched earth. He landed next to what used to be their farmhouse and a tear rolled down his face. Everything was eerily quiet; no birds, no insects and no cows mooing in the distance… everything was gone. He cried out to the heavens in pain. Thunder roared in the distance and rain rushed towards him like a wall of water. He stood naked in the rain and, as it washed over him, he felt a glimmer of hope ignite within his soul. He flew up to the overhang where he’d used to camp with Pete. Pete, the eternal survivalist, had ensured that they always kept an emergency tin of goodies buried up there, just in case they ever needed to bunk down for a night or two.
Tom made a small fire, sat under the overhang and watched the storm rage; it was if the gods were fighting amongst
themselves. Tom closed his eyes and took in a deep breath and prayed, Mother Goddess, I humble myself before you and the storm Gods of the sky; I ask for your guidance and protection. Oh Mother Goddess, it is easy for us mortal men to succumb to temptation and to lose our way, but I believe that we are destined for something greater and I am prepared to be your soldier and messenger, even if it means sacrificing my life for a greater purpose. If it is your will, then let my death bring about the change that shines a light so bright that it expels all the darkness from this world…”
Tom could feel the energy of the Kundalini rise inside him, the twin snakes rising up through from his base chakra, through his sacral chakra, passing each on their route to the crown. A bright white light exploded from his crown and flowed down over him, immersing him in a light that pulsated intermittently with each of the different colors from his chakras.
Sasha and Julia both saw a bright white light - it looked like a beacon in the darkness of their minds - it grew larger and larger as it grew closer and closer. It emitted warmth and love, and as it got closer, they could sense that it was Tom’s energy… he was reaching out to them. Just as the light reached Sasha, she shook awake with fright as her eyes tried to adjust to the blinding light of the laboratory. She blinked several times as her eyes tried to focus, and slowly the dark shadows on the ground started to take form. She saw her Mom and Pete were still unconscious in the two cells to the right of her, while Julia appeared to slowly stir. She moved up to the side and placed her hand on the glass.
Julia sat up, her head still spinning as her eyes slowly adjusted to the light. She realized she was back in the lab and questioned if she had ever really left. She saw Sasha’s hand against the glass and placed her hand to it.
They could feel the energy between them. Julia looked past Sasha into the other cells, and although Sasha couldn’t hear what she was saying, she knew what she was asking, “Where is Tom?”
Sasha shrugged and pointed to her closed eyes and then to her third eye.
Julia smiled and pointed to herself and then showed two fingers. She pointed back to herself and then to her eyes and third eye. When she closed her eyes, she could still see Tom in the distance, and she could almost hear his voice… She quieted her mind and heard him speak to her, “Pray to the Mother, raise the Kundalini and prepare for unification.” She smiled and looked over at Sasha. She held her hands together to pray, and then pointed to Sasha’s mother and then pointed up at the sky.
Sasha nodded, “Pray to the Mother Goddess?”
Julia nodded and showed thumbs up; she then pointed to her base chakra and moved her arms like snakes.
Sasha nodded, “Yip I got it!”
Julia then showed three fingers.
Sasha nodded.
Julia touched the tip of her middle finger with her thumb and then joined the two links as if making a chain.
Sasha smiled, gave her a thumbs up and went and sat in her meditation pose… she glanced over at Julia to see she had done the same. She smiled and blew Julia one final kiss.
Julia and Sasha echoed in their minds’ eyes as they recited the same prayer as Tom. The energy slowly built inside them as they entered a deep state of meditation, their Kundalini energy burst through each of their chakras and exploded from their heads, covering both Julia and Sasha in the protective bright white light that pulsated intermittently with the colors of each of their different chakras.
Janey and Pete woke a few hours later. The artificial lighting made it impossible to determine what the time was, whether it was day or night, but none of that mattered. They were both in shock and complete awe, and just sat and stared at the aural light show emanating from Sasha and Julia. Deep blues and indigos, bright greens and yellows and vibrant red and orange hues danced around them like flames rising up and falling… some shot up as far as two or three foot from where they sat.
Chapter 16 Esoteric Mumbo Jumbo?
Dr. Dylan entered the lab just before seven am, his head bent over as he multitasked through his daily morning routine. He noticed something in the corner of his eye and as he adjusted his focus, his coffee cup dropped, smashing into the floor as it shattered into a million pieces. “What the fuck?” He rushed over to Sasha and Julia’s holding cells and frantically typed in different prompts and commands as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. They were in the cell, but their vitals weren’t registering… the aural lights seemed to be interfering. He opened the intercom link between the main lab and the cells and heard an unidentifiable sound… it wasn’t music or chanting and it wasn’t just pure noise. He checked the audio file and noticed that the sound had a base frequency of 852hz and a beat frequency of 55hz. Intrigued by this, he ran a diagnostic on the light frequencies; they were cycling up from red at around 380THz through the visible light spectrum up to violet at 750 THz. He could measure the science of what he was seeing and hearing, but he didn’t understand how or why it was happening, and more importantly he had no idea how to stop it. Aside from the sound and light frequencies there was nothing physical in the cells… at least, not according to his system.
He noticed Janey in the cell next to Sasha. She was hitting the glass trying to get his attention, so he opened the com link. “Do you know what’s wrong with them?”
Janey shook her head, “No… I was hoping you could tell me. They haven’t moved for hours. I am worried.”
Dylan shrugged, “That should be the least of your worries.” He shook his head and killed the intercom feed to her cell. He grabbed his phone and took a short video clip and sent it to Marcelle with the message You need to see this!! He went and sat down at the computer station in the main lab. He looked over at the two sitting in the lab and could scarcely believe that he was actually going to input the data and see if there was any esoteric or spiritual connection to the data he’d retrieved. His computer lit up like a Christmas tree with hit after hit. The light frequency was connected to the colors of the chakras. He read a bit about it, his clinical, cynical, analytical mind screaming hogwash, but the science fitted like a glove and made sense of what he was actually seeing. He typed in the sound frequency and it took him to a link on binaural beats and the awakening of the Kundalini… he read further … could this esoteric mumbo jumbo actually have some credence after all? He thought back to his research on fivelings and remembered reading something about Sharmanas being able to control the surge of the fiveling’s rebirth. He shook his head and just then noticed the door to the lab open.
Marcelle walked in, her mood thick and dripping with agitation. “What the fuck is wrong now?” She looked at Sasha and Julia and shook her head, “Guard… get the fuck in there and start beating them till they stop glowing.”
Dylan raised his hand and lowered it; he realized it was best not to protest, they would soon see.
The door opened to Sasha’s cell and the noise vibrated through the entire lab.
Marcelle winced and covered her ears with her hands. “Hurry and shut those two fuckers up.”
The guard snapped out his telescopic baton, aimed for Sasha’s head and swung… his baton flew straight through her head and the lack of expected resistance at the end of his strike threw him momentarily off balance. He swung again and again, eventually resorting to trying to kick her, but nothing… she was there and not there all at the same time.
Marcelle was intrigued; she walked over and moved her hand slowly through the apparition. and her blood turned cold, “Is this some kind of fuckin joke? This must be some kind of fuckin hologram. Where the fuck are they and who the fuck helped them escape this time?” She stormed out of the cell and pushed Dylan up against the wall, “Do you think I am fucking stupid?”
Dylan protested, “I swear I had nothing to do with it…”
She spat with anger, “Who else could rig up a fuckin holographic program then?”
Dylan shook his head, “I don’t understand it any more than you do… all I know is that they are there, but they aren’t there.
I was just going to review the footage from the lab… let’s see what happened before we jump to any conclusions.”
Damien arrived as they finished watching the video clip. Marcelle shrugged, “What the fuck do you make of this, Damien?” She walked over to the cell, “They are there, but they are not there, and the only thing we can decipher from the fuckin clip is something about praying to the mother up there and according to our new esoteric expert over there, something about the kundalini flame which may or may not have something to do with controlling the birth of the fiveling?!”
Damien shrugged, “And we have bigger problems. Hathor the Sekhmet is growing impatient… she has killed ten of my men overnight. If we do not quench her bloodlust, she will turn on us and quench it herself.”
Marcelle shook her head, “Why does everything have to be so damn complicated? It’s simple - just increase the number of wolves to six an hour, and don’t forget to get your men to dedicate their sacrificial blood to her! We might need her to balance the odds if these three have managed to invoke the Mother.”
Damien nodded, “Understood.”
Marcelle slapped him hard as she remembered, “Wait… go back a step. Where is Tom? And why isn’t he here yet?”
Damien shook his head, “We are getting closer. He killed one of my men and stowed away on the same helicopter that brought them here.”
Marcelle snapped, “What the fuck… the little bastard is getting cocky!”
Damien nodded, “And when they get cocky, they fuck up!” He raised his hand, “Look! When and where he exited the helicopter is unknown, but my gut tells me that he ran home. We have sent units up there to go and search for him.”
Marcelle’s phone rang and she threw it to Dylan, “Answer it for me.” She turned back to Damien, “And check Sasha’s flat as well… I think these three are a little closer than we suspected.”