Emerald Sky (17 page)
Authors: David Clarkson
‘Have you anything new to report,
Professor Nguyen?’
‘Everything is proceeding as you planned,
General. The Americans are still months away from rearmament. They are likely
to be concentrating on establishing some form of defensive capability before
they resume astral testing. As such, I have suspended all surveillance on their
base. It is highly likely that our presence would be detected otherwise.’
‘That should not be a problem. They are
nothing without Dr Rayne to guide them. What is her current status?’
‘She left the complex two days ago. They
tried to cover her tracks, but thanks to her repeated astral journeys she emits
an energy signature greatly different to anybody else. I would recognise her
anywhere.’
‘She’s infected?’
‘No, she’s clean. It is just a side
effect of undergoing so many astral journeys that her life energy is less
static. For lack of adequate words, she has a pulsating aura. Everyone who has
undergone the trials has.’
Something on Charlie’s desk caught the
general’s eye. It was the scientist’s personal tablet computer and it displayed
a blurred image of an indistinct figure on a mountainside.
‘What is this?’ he asked.
Charlie quickly locked the screen,
removing the picture.
‘It is nothing, General. Just a badly
developed image taken by a mountaineer. Sooner or later this was to be
expected. With the recent advancements, exposure was inevitable.’
‘Is it going to be a problem?’
‘No, General. The photograph is
unfortunate, but there is no risk of it being traced to us. It was taken by a
European on a mountaineering trip who then posted it online. It is being
interpreted in relation to local folklore and superstition. According to the
message boards, most believe it is a fake. I mean, who can blame them after it
was linked to Meh-Teh?’
The general delicately bowed his head.
‘That was why we chose this location. If
anything else appears, I want to know immediately.’
‘Yes, General.’
The general then left the scientist to
carry on with his work. Charlie did not feel any more relaxed in his absence.
The base was covered in surveillance cameras and with each day he was beginning
to suspect more and more that any feeling of control he may have regarding the
project was an illusion.
***
The subject to be used as bait was chosen
at random from a group deemed the least significant within the town’s
hierarchy. If Emmy had been there she would have objected without hesitation.
Dr Stark, however, was not tied by her younger colleague’s moral principles.
Therefore, a teenage girl named Sally Ritchie was to act as her guinea pig.
Such was the strength of the sedation the
girl was under, she would not be able to survive without life support. The
machine keeping her alive was switched off by one of the lab technicians whilst
the remaining scientists and select members of the military watched on from
behind a glass partition. The expectation was that the girl would instantly
flat line just as Mrs Johnson had.
This assumption turned out to be false.
As she sprung into an upright position,
Sally’s screams disturbed even the colonel. Her hands were pressed against the
sides of her head, but she was not trying to cover her ears. She was trying to
squeeze the disturbing mental images from her brain.
She did not react to the medic at her
bedside. He may as well have been as insubstantial as the phantoms in her head
for all the notice she took of him. Instead, her vision fixed on random points
in space, if not time. Then without warning she dropped her hands and started
scratching at her left arm.
‘I need to get in there,’ said Dr Stark.
‘That medic is completely out of his depth.’
‘Then we pull him out,’ replied the
colonel, ‘but nobody is going in – not even you, Doctor.’
‘I’m already in there, can’t you see?’
she told him.
To illustrate her point she held up a
hypodermic needle for the colonel to see. When he looked back into the room he
now knew why the girl was scrabbling at her arm. She was fighting against the
phantom vision of the scientist injecting her with a sedative.
‘How do you know that will work?’ the
colonel asked. ‘She should never have regained consciousness to begin with. We
have no idea what we’re dealing with.’
‘You’re right, but we have to try. We
literally have no choice.’
They looked through the glass. The girl
had stopped trying to prevent the imagined needle from going into her arm and
was instead just looking at it with a mixture of confusion and wonder spreading
over her face.
‘Okay, Doctor, you’ve got the green
light. Just make sure you get the subject back under sedation. As long as she’s
experiencing any kind of vision we cannot allow her to remain conscious.’
Dr Stark entered the room. The medic
tried to leave at the same time, but was prevented from doing so by a soldier
acting on the colonel’s orders. He was sent back into the room and the two of
them approached the girl from opposite sides of her bed. As Dr Stark reached
out with the needle, the patient contemplated her as if she was nothing more than
an illusion. When she had previously seen her try to inject her it had not been
real so why would this be any different?
The needle contained a strong enough dose
to knock the girl out within seconds. Unfortunately, given the radiation this
was not enough. Once the medicine was administered Sally pushed herself off of
her bed and rushed past the scientist. Dr Stark was taken by surprise and could
not stop her, but the girl did not get far before visions once again clouded
her judgement. Confused and disorientated, she could not figure out where the
door was and as before, she became spooked by imagined figures in empty spaces.
With no visible way out, she zigzagged
between beds. At first, she seemed oblivious to her fellow patients, but as the
reality of her predicament began to sink in she panicked. She haphazardly
pulled power chords linking the patients to their life support. The doctor
screamed out for assistance, but by the time help arrived, Sally had disengaged
three other patients. Of these, two of them awoke like Sally, whilst the other
slowly faded away.
A team of three soldiers entered the
room, awaiting instruction. They were all armed and trained to carry out orders
without question or hesitation. The doctor pleaded with the colonel to command
them to stand down.
‘The mission is a fail,’ the colonel told
her. ‘We have to lock this thing down before it gets any further out of hand.’
‘The mission is not a fail,’ she shouted
back at him. ‘Tell me, Colonel, what do you see on the observation monitors?’
The colonel glanced at the monitors.
There were nine active energy signals in the room as well as the dormant
signatures of the still comatose patients. This meant the flat liner was still
in the room, albeit in spirit rather than body.
‘I don’t believe it,’ he said. ‘Can you
see it?’
‘No more than you can when you’re not
facing the monitor,’ replied Dr Stark. ‘I think these three can though. Look at
them, they’re transfixed.’
‘That’s a negative, Doctor. The patients
aren’t looking at the disembodied energy signature. I’m tracing its trajectory
now and it’s not even close to their line of sight.’
Constance felt nervous. She noticed that
all three of the conscious patients had their attention focused on the same
spot. If they were not looking at the spirit of their dead friend, what were
they looking at?
‘There’s another one!’ the colonel called
out.
‘Another what?’ asked Dr Stark, but her
intuition answered the question before the soldier could. Something else had
entered the room, be it an astral traveller or a ghost. ‘Describe it to me,’
she added.
‘It’s no different to you, the patients
or that other disembodied thing in there. Wait, no, it is different. It seems
less powerful. It seems weaker somehow. I think its energy is fading.’
‘Where is it?’ Dr Stark asked.
‘Follow the eyes. Those three are all
staring right at it.’
The scientist willed herself to see
something, but there was only an empty space. Her eyes could not see what her
mind knew to be true. In a state of frenzied excitement she decided to try
establishing some other form of connection. When two astral beings made contact
they were able to communicate so she reasoned that a psychic bond could also
exist between the real and the ethereal.
The moment she passed into the space
where the disembodied life force was she became aware of it, but only in an
indistinct way. She felt cold and the hairs on her neck buzzed with static
electricity. Then the lights went out. When she came to she felt disorientated
and was not where she expected to be.
‘Easy, Doctor,’ said the colonel. ‘You
blacked out. For a moment we were worried you weren’t coming back at all. I
took the liberty of having you placed onto a bed just in case.’
The scientist looked across to her left
and saw the resting form of Sally Ritchie lying just feet away on an adjacent
bed.
She felt sick. For the first time she
realised that in the colonel’s eyes, she was just as expendable as the test
subjects.
Not wanting to give him further cause to
keep her in this state she quickly sat upright and swung her legs around, ready
to stand before anybody had the chance to administer a sedative.
‘You seem nervous,’ the colonel said.
‘I’m okay,’ she replied. ‘I don’t know
what happened, but I assure you I’m feeling fine now. With your permission, I’d
like to return to work immediately.’
‘Permission denied. I want you to take
the rest of the day off. You can resume work tomorrow. There’s nothing more we
can do for the time being.’
‘What about the unknown energy source;
have you found a way to contain it?’
The colonel paused, unsure of exactly how
to explain to the scientist what had happened in the five minutes since she
lost consciousness.
‘The energy source has gone and so too
has the one created by the flat-lined patient. They made contact and in doing
so vanished. No trace of either remains. It is my belief that the spirit we
released is now in the hands of the enemy.’
Constance’s emotions betrayed her. There
was something about her reaction to what the colonel had said that suggested to
the military man that she knew something. That she was holding out on him.
‘Is there something you want to tell me,
Doctor?’ the colonel asked.
‘I’m not sure,’ replied the scientist.
‘It’s just that when I stepped into that spirit’s path...’
‘Spirit?’ interrupted the colonel. ‘I
thought we agreed to keep this strictly scientific.’
‘That’s what I’m trying to tell you,
Colonel. The entity wasn’t what we previously thought. For the briefest moment,
I sensed something unusual. It was like confusion. It was as if the energy
didn’t know what was happening to it. Whatever it was, I don’t think it has
anything to do with the kind of technology we’ve been using. In fact, I don’t
think it has anything to do with technology at all.’
‘Are you saying you no longer think the
Chinese are behind this?’
‘Yes, sir.’ And then remembering Emmy’s
mission, she quickly added; ‘is that a problem?’
The colonel did not even bother to
answer. It was a very big problem. He had sent a team to infiltrate the Chinese
compound on the explicit understanding that they were mounting a
counteroffensive. It was too late to call them back. Without provocation, the
mission had no grounds for justification. Emmy was about to lead her small
group into committing an act of war.
The tunnels exited onto a concealed valley
not dissimilar to the one from which they had entered on the other side.
According to the GPS trackers, this placed the team within just a few miles of
the Chinese base. Obviously, their opponents were relying on the mountain
location to offer them shelter from prying eyes, but in reality it had allowed
the group to sneak up on them unnoticed. To avoid detection for as long as
possible, they divided into two teams. As with the parachute jumps, Esteban was
paired with Jimmy, whilst Emmy was partnered with Jack.
As they descended, the scientist began to
realise just how far from her comfort zone she had strayed. Everything was
alien to her. It was not just the scenario of a covert espionage mission that
could escalate into open battle, but the environment too. A day earlier she had
never trodden on snow, yet here it was everywhere. Like the sand of her home
town, it completely dominated everything.
The target base, like the American base
in Australia, was partially underground. This was primarily to make disposing
of the radiation easier, but it also helped to shield it from prying eyes. The
visible portion consisted mainly of a large power generator unlike anything
Emmy or the soldiers had seen before. The huge metallic coils rose out from the
ground like giant snakes ready to strike.
‘I don’t like this,’ said Emmy. ‘It makes
no sense for them to leave their power source so exposed. They obviously have a
different technological set up to what we had anticipated. Maybe we should hold
back a little until we figure out what we’re dealing with.’
‘Try telling Jimmy that,’ replied Jack.
The young psychic was already on the move
with Esteban close behind. Emmy knew that if he was experiencing one of his
visions there was nothing she or anyone could do to stop it. He viewed time
differently to normal people. To him the laws of cause and effect had been
flipped on their head. Jimmy’s temporal path was set.
Or was it?
Emmy had heard all about Esteban’s
intervention to avert the train crash. From her studies into quantum mechanics,
she knew that particles also acted as waves. This wave function represented all
possible outcomes, but could not be experienced in the macroscopic world due to
a process known as decoherence, which effectively reduces all infinite
possibilities to one irreducible finite certainty. But now she was questioning
whether Jimmy could foresee a different quantum outcome to the path that he
would ultimately take. If so, his visions were fallible. The only problem was
that thus far they had only failed once and she did not know why that had been.
‘We have to stop them,’ she told Jack.
‘Something isn’t right. I think Jimmy is leading us into a trap.’
‘That’s impossible,’ said Jack. ‘I’ve
read the file on him. I didn’t believe it until I saw for myself. He never
fails.’ The soldier paused for a moment, considering things from a different
angle. ‘Unless you count his prediction about our parachute jump the other
day,’ he added.
Jimmy had said that Jack’s chute would not
open, which would have been potentially fatal for them both. Emmy had assumed
that he was joking, but now another thought occurred to her. If he had been
telling the truth then this was not only further evidence of his fallibility,
but it also provided a common denominator – her. Maybe it was because of her
immunity to the radiation, which gave him his power, or maybe it was something
that she was not seeing yet, but for some reason Jimmy’s gift was not one
hundred percent accurate when she was around him. Her very presence on the
mission was nullifying his effectiveness.
‘Get Esteban on the radio now,’ she said
‘We have to stop them.’
‘The orders are for radio silence,’
replied Jack. ‘We don’t want to give away our presence too early.’
‘It’s not too early; it’s too late –
look.’
She drew his attention to the power
generator. Two coiled cylinders rising to about ten feet in height glowed with
latent electrical power before disappearing behind an explosion of pure light.
The brightness stabbed at the onlookers’ eyes like a tidal wave of broken
glass.
Both the scientist and the soldier raised
their arms to protect their vision. Only when the heat subsided did they know
it was safe to look again. Something had changed, however. Upon lowering their
guard they could see a figure standing between the two cylinders as if whoever
it was had been created within the burst of energy. Worse still, this figure
was clearly not human, though it did resemble a man in shape. Its entire body
sparkled like it had been carved from solid diamond. Once it moved away from
the cylinders, they burst back into life.
The first shots originated a good
distance from where Emmy was and she guessed that Esteban was the source.
Almost immediately, Jack added to the barrage of fire. In doing so, he also
gave away their position.
***
Charlie’s fingers itched above the abort
button. This was no videogame, though it certainly felt like one. He had
created the ultimate in drone warfare. His worst fears about how the general
intended to implement his research were coming true and it was Emmy in the
firing line. She had once been his partner. More than that; she had once been
his friend, practically a little sister. Now he was using a heavily modified
version of the work she had created against her. It was not right.
‘This is too dangerous,’ he said. ‘The
technology is still untested. We do not even know what will happen if our guys
make physical contact. It could be fatal.’
The general was unmoved by the
possibility.
‘Is she with them?’
Charlie knew that he could not lie.
Emmy’s energy signature was unique. The general only had to check the logs.
‘Yes. She and three others. I am guessing
these will be soldiers.’
‘In that case, they know the consequences
they face and we should expect resistance.’
‘Consequences?’
‘This is warfare. There are always
casualties.’
Charlie had heard enough. He slammed his
palm down onto the abort button. Its effect was immediately apparent.
Nothing happened.
Somebody had disengaged it before the
mission had even begun. The frustrated scientist looked to the general, hoping
to find some evidence of reason within his commander’s staunchly fierce
countenance.
There was none.
‘Did you really think I would trust a
half breed like you with that level of control,’ the general said. ‘Once she
entered the picture, it was only a matter of time before you became
compromised. As of this moment, I am taking you off the mission.’
Tao motioned for two subordinates to
escort Charlie away from the console. A replacement scientist immediately took
his place.
‘All that matters is getting the girl,’
the general told his new Chief of Operations. ‘Instruct our men to eliminate
her companions.’
‘As you wish, General,’ the scientist
replied.
‘No!’ screamed Charlie.
He attempted to wrest free of the guards,
but their grip was too strong. The more he struggled, the tighter and more
powerful their hold on him became. He was their prisoner now. There was now
nothing he could do to help his friend.
***
Esteban emptied an entire magazine and not
one of his bullets had any effect. It was as if every one of them had missed
its target. He knew this was impossible because he was too good a marksman. The
reason the bullets failed was because his target was not human. If he had any
chance of getting through this he needed to raise his level of attack
substantially.
The first grenade went wide of the target
and impacted into the snow, which muffled much of its explosive power. The
second was a direct hit, but it did not detonate. Instead it appeared to be
completely absorbed into the body of the hostile. If it had any effect at all,
it was simply to have strengthened an already superior foe.
‘Speak to me, Jimmy,’ he called out. ‘How
do we get out of this one?’
The young Australian did not reply. He
was in a state of complete shock and disbelief. He wore an expression, the
exact like of which Esteban had seen only once before; at the train crash. The
kid’s psychic intuition had misfired again. He had led them down a blind alley.
‘Shit!’ Esteban cursed to himself. Their
only option was retreat. ‘Fall back,’ he then shouted, whilst laying down a
barrage of ultimately pointless cover fire for his teammates to get away.
His priority had to be ensuring both
Jimmy and Emmy’s safety no matter the cost he may have to bear.
Jimmy had been in the most advanced
position when the attack started and was, therefore, the most vulnerable.
Without the benefit of his additional sense he was also completely helpless.
This was a fact that the inhuman attackers were quick to pick up on.
Esteban ran towards the boy, but when he
got to within just feet of him, one of the enemy combatants was already there.
He emptied a fresh magazine into the target’s centre point without even drawing
its attention. The soldier then dropped his rifle and withdrew a blade despite
knowing that it was likely to be just as ineffective as the bullets had been.
His companions were not faring any
better. The second attacker had been drawn toward them by the gunfire. Emmy
knew the bullets would be no use and was trying her best to come up with an
alternative. She tipped open her pack and sifted through the contents for
anything that may be of use. Emergency rations, camera, radio, phone; she had
an idea, but one thing was still missing.
‘Jack, I need you,’ she called out, but
the soldier was too distracted to respond.
She had figured out what the attackers
were. They were astral travellers who had harnessed enough electrical energy to
create a second body outside of their own. This would make them completely
impervious to conventional weapons, but they were not unstoppable. The fact
they were using electrical energy was her one hope. Of course, she still did
not have everything that she needed.
Jack had stopped firing his gun and was
fast depleting his complement of hand grenades. He lobbed them in quick
succession in the hope their effects would be accumulative. The explosions
slowed his attacker, but that was all they did. After the final explosive was
spent, the being advancing on him did not show any sign of damage or injury.
With no means left with which to defend
himself, Jack was grabbed by the throat and lifted two feet above the ground.
Emmy could see the agony etched on the soldier’s face as his tormentor
tightened its grasp. The electricity that gave it form and substance scorched the
young soldier’s flesh. His skin blistered like snags on a barbeque. It was not
long before his body fell limp, only to be discarded into the snow like a used
battery.
The astral being was now between Emmy and
Jack’s pack. Having just witnessed what this thing was capable of, she
instantly dismissed any thoughts of attempting to get past it. If a fully
trained and armed soldier could be defeated with such ease, she stood no
chance. Her only hope was if Esteban was carrying the same kit.
She turned and threw herself down a
slope, rolling until she reached the bottom. Once she got back to her feet she
scanned the area for Esteban and Jimmy. The soldier was on the floor, but it
was Jimmy who was in immediate danger. The enemy being grabbed hold of him, but
it did not go for the kill like the other had done with Jack. Instead, it kept
him held at arm’s length before leaping into the air, clearing the walls of the
compound in a single bound.
The other hostile was not yet ready to
flee. Like a mountain lion stalking its prey, it slowly made its way down the
slope toward her. She knew it could cross the distance between them in an
instant, but guessed it saw no need for urgency due to its impossible
advantage. The irony was, the longer it delayed, the more that advantage
switched to Emmy.
She located Esteban’s pack just a few
feet from where he lay. He was obviously hurt, but the cool mist ascending from
his mouth confirmed he was still breathing. Whether he would survive the
encounter now rested firmly with her. It only took her a moment to find what
she was looking for.
Like Jack, Esteban had been carrying
plastic explosive with blasting caps and copper firing wire. By stripping the
wires and using the copper to create a coil connecting the camera flash to her
phone battery, she was able to construct a makeshift device capable of emitting
an electromagnetic pulse. It was crude, but it was her only hope.
She worked as fast as she could and just
as she was completing her construction the astral being finally caught up with
her. Her time was up and unfortunately for her, she was left needing more. Her
device was incomplete. It still needed a trigger switch.
‘Wait,’ she said to the being. ‘You don’t
have to do this. Can you hear me?’