‘Attuned?’ Lopez asked.
‘They weren’t more imaginative,’ Arnie explained, ‘they were more sensitive. They sensed things more naturally. NASA felt there was something in this and they started a new program to study the way in which we humans perceive the world around us. Those experiments were extremely interesting and were the programs upon which I worked in the late seventies, right up to the moment when the military took the whole thing over.’
‘What did they find?’ Henley asked, fascinated.
‘In brief,’ Arnie replied with a glance, ‘they discovered that our human senses are far more wide–ranging than we had first believed. We managed to understand that under certain conditions, humans can see things that ordinarily we cannot see. Literally, we are able to sense things on other planes of existence that otherwise we would be completely unaware of.’
Lopez took a moment to let that sink in. Other planes of existence.
‘So, you’re saying that some people are just better at seeing UFOs than others?’
‘In a nutshell, yes,’ Arnie replied. ‘We perceive the human brain as a computer, a biological machine that controls our bodies and harbors our memories. But the result of our research suggested that the human brain is in fact more like an antenna, tapping in to something that as yet we do not understand. This thinking explains many phenomena that are today considered paranormal: ghosts, for instance, are seen everywhere with many folks reporting incidents around the world every day. But what if they’re not seeing ghosts at all, instead merely tapping into a brief, blurred and fleeting vision of the past?’
Lopez had never even considered something so simple and yet so far–reaching as this before. Many sightings of ghosts and other paranormal events such as poltergeist infestations were assumed to be something to do with evil spirits, but overlapping events in time would explain almost everything in a single stroke.
‘Time is not linear,’ Arnie said softly. ‘Einstein proved that a century ago. It can twist and bend, swirl and deceive. If a human brain is an antenna of sorts, detecting signals from a huge range of spectra, some of which we may not yet be truly aware even exist, then it might go some way to explaining why UFO sightings are so ubiquitous and yet we haven’t seen aliens land on the White House lawn.’
‘Because they’re not actually here at all,’ Henley murmured. ‘We’re seeing them as they will one day be.’
Arnie inclined his head. ‘That’s the sum of it. Think about it, hundreds of UFO sightings every day, all around the world, for tens, hundreds and perhaps even thousands of years. There’s no logical reason why any advanced civilization would need to keep coming back to learn about us, and if there are lots of civilizations out there all buzzing past the planet as they expand into the cosmos, then we should have seen and heard from them by now. Yet, the universe remains stubbornly silent.’
Lopez recalled her own suspicions about why the government insisted on covertly following UFO witnesses about, and she finally began to connect that oddity to the reasons why Shilo Devligne had formed his cult with government assistance.
‘They’re attempting contact?’ she suggested.
‘Yes,’ Arnie replied, ‘and far more besides. Technology, information, understanding. They’re taking data from what we believe to be alien entities and using that data to perform human enhancement surgeries. That’s the willing participant side of things: the industrial–military complex gets the data without having to comply with human rights or ethical laws.’
‘But how?’ Henley asked. ‘Surely you can’t just sit around chanting and humming and get some alien craft to show up?’
Arnie raised a white eyebrow. ‘You ever tried?’
‘Well, no, but…’
‘Then you wouldn’t know,’ Arnie went on. ‘Just because it sounds nuts doesn’t make it so, although I do concede that it seems right out there with fringe theories. Thing is, this was all investigated by the CIA in the 60s and 70s with infamous programs like MKULTRA that are now well known after several law suits by former victims of the program. The CIA exposed unwitting populations to the drug LSD, killed former operatives who volunteered for experiments and even sent half the population of a small French town insane after they sprayed mind–altering chemicals into the air.’
‘You’re kidding?’ Henley uttered.
‘Pont–Saint–Esprit in France, 1951,’ Arnie replied. ‘The CIA spiked bread with LSD to see what effect it would have on the local population. It’s all out there, you can Google it when you get home,’ Arnie replied. ‘This isn’t science fiction; the CIA did these things until they were reigned in during the late 70s after a series of internal investigations. The CIA supposedly closed down MKULTRA and other programs such as Project Stargate, which was an attempt to use meditation to provoke remote–viewing capabilities in volunteers so they could spy on Soviet military activity.’
‘Now that’s way out there,’ Henley said.
‘Precisely,’ Arnie agreed, ‘especially so considering the programs were considered successful. The participants were genuinely able to visualize locations far from their bodily presence, including Russian missile silos and even identified rings around the planet Neptune before NASA telescopes were able to confirm their presence. They were shut down only because it was hard to interpret the data, not because the methods didn’t work. And besides, the programs weren’t really shut down at all, merely moved into the public sphere to avoid Freedom of Information acts and other bothersome legal interventions. Shilo’s cult is the result of that strategy.’
‘Are the CIA behind the whole thing?’ Lopez asked.
‘Probably,’ Arnie replied. ‘Or some similar black budget organisation like Majestic Twelve or similar. They’ll be carrying on the work that the CIA began, free from legal or congressional oversight.’
Lopez thought for a moment.
‘Ethan’s probably looking for them or is already with them by now. Plus, they know I’m here.’
‘Why would the CIA have any interest in you or Ethan?’ Henley asked.
‘It’s a long story, but right now I can tell you without any doubt that they’re watching the both of us.’
‘If that’s the case,’ Arnie said to her, ‘then you need to work fast. The CIA won’t hesitate to roll up the cult’s operation and remove any evidence of it. I don’t have to tell you what that’ll mean for your friend.’
Lopez nodded. She wasn’t under any illusions about what a covert CIA paramilitary organisation would do to protect its secrets.
‘We don’t have much time,’ she said.
‘I can get you out to the towbar before sundown,’ Henley said to her.
But Lopez didn’t hear him. Her mind was suddenly racing, thinking over and over about one simple fact that they had overlooked.
‘Time,’ Lopez murmured. ‘It’s all about time.’
Suddenly, she stood bolt upright and slapped one hand against her head as she looked at Henley. ‘You idiot.’
Henley raised an eyebrow and shrugged. ‘Hey, I was only trying to help.’
‘Not you,’ Lopez gasped, ‘me. Time. It’s all about time.’
‘Yeah, we know, that’s how the UFOs get seen all over the…’
‘Not them!’ Lopez said. ‘Time. Dwayne Austin. He died from a bullet to the head, instantly. He would have hit the water with no heartbeat, no breathing, everything would have stopped in an instant.’
‘So?’ Henley asked.
‘How could his killer have known when we were going to intercept the bus he was on?’ Lopez pressed. ‘We’ve looked at everything the wrong way around. Ethan didn’t shoot Dwayne, so someone must have done so at the same time that we tried to apprehend him.’
Henley got it. ‘You think they must have been on the bus at the same time?’
‘Maybe not, but they must have been either following it or have planned in advance to kill Dwayne and make either Ethan or myself look like the shooter. This can’t have been something
that just played out on the night, it had to be premeditated.’
Lopez grabbed her cell phone and dialled a number. Her lawyer, Honor Creston, picked up on the second ring.
‘You got anything for me?’
‘Shilo Devilgne,’ Lopez replied. ‘That’s the name of the guy running the cult down here in Cairo. You link him to any of the victims, especially Dwayne Austin, and we’re in business.
’ ‘Great,’ Honor said, clearly writing down the details as she did so. ‘I got something for you too.’
‘Shoot.’
‘Lindsay Trent, a local woman from Kankakee, bailed Ethan out.’
‘Never heard of her until this morning.’
‘No, but I have. Her son went missing a while back, teenage boy. She came to us and many other agencies, swearing that he’d been abducted by a cult down Cairo way.’
Lopez stopped in her tracks. That explained Ethan’s surprise bail. This Lindsay Trent must have enlisted his help.
‘Ethan,’ she said. ‘He’ll be looking for a way to prove that this cult’s down here.’
‘Yeah,’ the lawyer replied.
‘But he won’t know about the government being involved in all of this.’
‘What?’
Lopez cleared her mind. ‘Never mind. Okay, listen, follow up on the CCTV footage from any nearby cameras, even on the other side of the water. If we can find anything that proves a gunshot outside of the time frame of Dwayne Austin’s supposed homicide at Ethan’s hands, it’s an out.’
The lawyer wrote down her request. ‘County Sheriff still won’t call off the manhunt based on that.’
‘Doesn’t matter,’ Lopez replied. ‘This isn’t about Ethan getting away.’
‘What do you mean?’
Lopez finally realized why Ethan had decided not to check in with the court, why he’d risked everything to go on the run. It was the only way to lead the police to the truth, to the cult in Cairo.
‘I don’t think Ethan’s trying to flee law enforcement at all. I think he wants them to catch him. Where can I find Lindsay Trent?’
***
XX
Ethan stood in silence as he looked at Ben Trent. Although they had never met before, it was obvious that Ben saw a sense of recognition in Ethan’s expression, which drew the teenager’s curiosity.
Ethan looked away before Shilo noticed the exchange. The cult leader was clearly much older than Ethan and yet seemed strangely robust. He stood as though he were half his age, walked with a stride that belied his years, and although his hair was white and grey his skin was oddly unlined and clean.
‘You don’t understand what’s happening here, do you?’ Devilgne said.
Ethan knew that it wasn’t a question, that Shilo could see through his confusion. The man had a messianic quality that was both impressive and disturbing in equal measure, the mark of the genius, or the psychopath.
‘I know that you’ve been abducting people for years, decades maybe,’ Ethan replied.
Shilo smiled and looked around him. Ethan heard faint chuckles of mirth, a young girl smiling at him as though in pity. Shilo folded his arms, revealing thick biceps through his thin shirt.
‘I have never abducted a human being in my life,’ Shilo replied. ‘I have invited many, although few heeded the calling, but those around you are here by choice and have no intention of leaving. They’re here because what you’re seeing right now is the future.’
Ethan peered at Shilo.
‘Living underground in the woods? I’ll take my apartment and Sky subscription any day.’
‘As I would expect,’ Shilo nodded. ‘Who wouldn’t? Why would anyone choose to live out here, isolated from modern life? Seems crazy, no?’
Ethan said nothing. He watched Shilo for a moment, and then the leader of the cult raised his arms and looked up to the ceiling as though imploring the gods for help.
‘Forgive them, for they know not what they’re missing.’
More chuckles from the cult members. Ethan stole a glance at Ben and saw that he was not chuckling with them, instead watching Ethan with interest. Ethan saw him nod fractionally, as though to say, “humor the guy or you’ll pay the price”. Ethan looked back to Shilo and saw him lower his arms.
‘Our future lies not here in this humble home, but among the stars.’
Ethan sighed. ‘Doomsday cult. You couldn’t have come up with anything original?’
Shilo chuckled, not biting on the insult.
‘It’s not about doomsday, at least not in the classical sense. We’re not Plato’s prisoners of the cave, we are his escapees! We are the ones who are for the first time seeing the world around us for what it truly is. We alone can see what others cannot. Everything you know, everything you believe, Ethan, is a lie.’
‘How do you know my name?’ Ethan asked finally, hoping to buy more time and enjoying the opportunity to break Shilo’s stride.
Shilo shrugged.
‘You were assigned to chase down a bail runner named Dwayne Austin. Wasn’t the first time one of our cult members was picked out by you and your partner while working for us in Chicago. The population is thin here in southern Illinois, Ethan.’
‘Having to go further afield to find willing victims for your mad little cult, Shilo?’
Now, Shilo’s gray eyes turned cold.
‘Dwayne Austin broke our cardinal rule,’ he went on, ‘and began talking about what we’ve built here in Cairo, revealing the truth. The timing was not right.’
‘So, you shot him in the head and pinned the murder on me,’ Ethan said.
‘Two birds, one stone,’ Shilo replied. ‘Dwayne’s loss weighs heavily upon us all, but he knew the rules.’
‘Obey mad little Shilo,’ Ethan said, pressing Devilgne’s buttons again, ‘or you’ll die for your trouble.’
Shilo visibly restrained himself, but his fists were clenched and Ethan could see that he was up on the balls of his feet. Ethan grinned, but it was a mistake. Shilo sensed defeat and sucked in a deep breath that swelled his chest, overpowering his rage as he momentarily closed his eyes and let the anger go.
‘Words,’ he said. ‘People are controlled by the words of others. When you cease to listen to them, life becomes so much easier.’
‘A lesson your followers should pay more attention to.’
Shilo did not respond to Ethan, who saw something in the low light that gave him a sudden flashback. The line of the jaw, the youthful skin, the glint of an eye. Suddenly, Ethan realized how Dwayne Austin had died, how Shilo had managed to set Ethan up so perfectly for the murder, how he had been able to time everything to almost impossible perfection.
‘You’re a murderer, Shilo,’ Ethan said as he slowly shook his head. ‘These people, they might believe in you, maybe what you’re promising them is even true. But that doesn’t take any of the guilt away from the crime you’ve committed.’
Shilo moved closer, his gray eyes burning into Ethan’s as though he were peering into his soul.
‘Join us.’
Ethan shook his head. ‘All signed up to real life, thanks.’
‘You don’t know what real life is,’ Shilo murmured. ‘Plato’s cave, you know what I referred to?’
Ethan knew that Shilo was educated, perhaps widely read. He knew the story of the cave, where prisoners are tied up and cannot look behind them. They see on the cave wall before them the glow from a fire somewhere behind them. As ordinary people walk by outside the fire casts their shadows on the wall, and having never seen an ordinary person before, they prisoners believe the shadows to be alive. Then, one day, a prisoner escapes the cave. He sees the beauty of the world, finally understands the origin of the shadows, and he hurries back to his friends in the cave and tells them of the wonders of the world.
‘The other prisoners don’t believe the escapee,’ Ethan replied. ‘They reject him and threaten to kill him if he dares to free them from their bonds, and they keep staring into the shadows.’
&
nbsp; ‘You impress me,’ Shilo said. ‘Greek philosophy is not something heard often here in the land of the unfree. Yes, you are correct. We are the escapees.’
‘Or the prisoners,’ Ethan smiled.
Shilo grinned back. ‘This is why I would like you to join us. You think that I set you up for murder because I wanted you out of the way, don’t you?’
‘Makes sense.’
‘The opposite,’ Shilo replied. ‘I wanted you to come here.’
Now Ethan was unsure of himself. ‘What for?’
Shilo seemed about to answer, but then he looked at his watch. ‘It is almost time.’
Ethan saw the other cult members stand up, and as they did so he noticed that their eyes glittered, like cats–eyes in the road as they caught the light. Shilo leaned in close to Ethan, and suddenly Ethan was aware of the faint red glow in the cult leader’s eyes, a digital gleam that sparkled with data.
‘We’re not what we seem, Ethan,’ Shilo said with a smile as he reached out for the bond around Ethan’s wrists.
Two big fists closed around the tough cords and then with brute, impossible strength Shilo tore them apart. Ethan felt the brief stab of heat as the cords snapped, energy released due to the force with which they were split. Shilo’s strength was anything but human and he smiled at Ethan, his face merely inches away.
‘We’re the next natural stage in evolution,’ he said. ‘We’re what comes next, and we want you to become a part of us. You’re a wanted man, you’re without friends and you’re going to spend the rest of your life behind bars if you go back from whence you came. You have a choice Ethan, the chance to start over somewhere that’s really new. Come with us, and you’ll be able to vanish from the world you know and appear in a new world where none of this will ever matter to you again.’
Vanishing Point: A Warner & Lopez prequel novel Page 10