Busy Skies: The Council Dissolution

by Ivan Svogor

  Councilor Frost greeted Mr. Holtzman, and she had a slight smirk on her face. Very subtle one. Jess didn’t give it much thought at that time, and she thought that councilor Frost probably didn’t like councilor Krueger, and it would be interesting for her to bring him down. Likely, it would be good for her career also, she thought to herself.

  Mrs. Potts continued, “So you see, Patricia, we need your help on this matter, we don't know how to proceed. What do we do? We cannot go into the media, we will get ourselves killed. It's like we are living in the dark ages”.

  Councilor Frost thought for a moment and said, “alright, if what you are saying is really true, we have a serious issue. We have a scandal in our hands. Mr. Holtzman, do you think you could deliver the holo-projections to me? I will make sure that this task is assigned to someone with my absolute trust. This is a very delicate matter”.

  “Yes”, confirmed Mr. Holtzman, “I can find a way to deliver this data, however, I will do it only in person. I don't want to get involved any deeper, nor do I want this data to be traced back to me. I would prefer to enjoy the few years I have left without anyone bothering me, or killing me”.

  “Alright”, said councilor Frost, tucking her hair behind her left ear again. “Thank you for raising this issue with me, you did a good thing. This is not how I expected this call to go, however, we need to get to the bottom of this. I will contact you, but for now, you need to give me some time”.

  “Councilor Frost, how much time are we talking about?” - asked Mr. Holtzman.

  “I don't know, but several days for sure”, she replied. “I must leave now, but please, take care, and thank you!”

  Both Mr. Holtzman and Mrs. Potts nodded as the image of councilor Frost went away.

  Great, now what? - asked Jess, coming from around the corner.

  “Well, it seems that there is nothing much to do, but to wait for her instructions”. - said Hank.

  * * *

  Later that evening, Jess stopped by Hank's room. “Listen”, Hank, she said, “I'm not sure if we can trust councilor Frost. What if she is in on it? We are waiting for our quiet death here”.

  “Yes indeed”, said Hank, ”those were my exact thoughts, however, if she is somehow involved, it wouldn’t make sense for her to make a move before she gets the evidence from Mr. Holtzman”.

  “Also, Hank”, continued Jess, ”the original data, and everything we know about the Rock came from the Antarctica research facility. This was given to me by Dr. Quill, which means that clearly, he wanted this information out.”

  “Which means he is also in danger”, said Hank, as he realized what Jess was pointing at. “Yes”, she confirmed and continued, “we should do something, she continued. Maybe there is a way to contact him, without revealing our identity”.

  “There is”, said Hank. “We should contact him from somewhere else than here. Some other network, some other accounts, someplace which are not even close to you, Mrs. Potts, or anyone you know”.

  “A city?” - asked Jess.

  “Yes, but not this one, nor the one across the hill from your parent’s place. Maybe the best place would be somewhere near the Antarctica research facility, so we could also extract Dr. Quill if necessary. Nobody would expect you for sure to go back there”.

  Chapter 17

  From the semi-dark room, the view of the Earth from its window was spectacular. A man sat in the dark, while the image of Kent Garcia appeared.

  “Councilor”, said Kent.

  “Mr. Garcia” asked the councilor, “with the old man out of the way, do we have any progress?”

  Kent explained, “I have been making all the arrangements to move forward sir. Dr. Quill made it a bit harder to catch up because his staffers were very unsupportive. However, the matter is settled now. We are on track, and we have gained insights into the Rock. Tomorrow, or the day after we have scheduled a big experiment. Dr. Newman used the previous work of Dr. Winson and he managed to extrapolate the behavior of silicon compounds with exposure to certain synthetic molecules. On small scale experiments, we were able to completely break the silicon bonds”.

  “Good”, said the councilor. “But please, correct me if I heard wrong. You said tomorrow or the day after?”

  Mr. Garcia, who was now visibly uncomfortable, “said, yes sir. Unfortunately, we have experienced some power outages, and we were unable to restore the sensor grid”.

  “Unable?” asked the councilor with a frowning look. “Mr. Garcia, do I need to seek new associates that are able?”

  “No, sir, no|, said Kent. “Dr. Quill left the facility a day ago and two of his associates went with him. One of them, Dr. Xi was in charge of the sensor grid and he didn't share documentation on the latest additions to it. So, we have projected that we should be up to speed within two days”.

  “Aha, old Dr. Quill is making trouble?” - asked the councilor. “Interesting, where did he go?”

  Kent started sweating at this point, as he didn't know where Dr. Quill went. “Sir, Dr. Quill didn't reveal where he was going, he just went away and we were…”

  Just as Kent was about to say unable, the councilor slapped his fist on the desk. ‘You were unable to stop him, is that what you were about to say?” - asked councilor Krueger.

  Kent Garcia, now clearly afraid just nodded, as the councilor continued.

  “I see. Mr. Garcia, at this point I think that I have entrusted the Antarctica research facility to the wrong leadership. If I recall our last meeting well, Mr. Cox made it very clear what is at stake here. Please, prove me wrong”.

  As Kent was about to say something, the holo-projection of the councilor went away, and he was standing alone in what used to be Dr. Quill's office. After some heavy breathing, he punched in a new call into the phone and the image of Dr. Newman appeared.

  “Yes, sir?” - asked Dr. Newman.

  “The tests, we are making them tomorrow”, ordered Kent.

  “But, Mr. Garcia, we have been…”. “Tomorrow!!” - shouted Kent and ended the call.

  * * *

  Jess and Hank woke up early and headed to the front door. They planned to go to the elevator and then leave for the city to make contact with Dr. Quill. The house was designed as a star, in the middle there was a big common space that consisted of the kitchen, living room, and dining room, separated by bookshelves and furniture. Below that there was a small office which is an ad-hoc ambulance, and the rooms were connected with glass tunnels that stretched around the central room. Therefore, in order to leave, one needed to pass through the common space. As Jess and Hank were sneaking out, Jess went to the table to leave the note for everyone, but then, she saw a face in the dark.

  “Going somewhere, kids?” - asked Mr. Holtzman.

  “Why are you awake?” - asked Hank.” Well, a man of my age doesn't sleep so well anymore, and besides that, I cannot adapt to the bed so I was reading something. Are you leaving us?”

  Jess, almost ashamed, nodded her head, and Hank explained. “Mr. Holtzman, you see, we have already put you, and all the people here through enough. You've also lost much and Jess and I think that we need to go away from everyone here just to keep you safe. We also think that you should do the same, just in case if councilor Frost is involved in this, however, I don't see a way to persuade you guys.”

  “Yes, I believe we are quite safe here”, said Mr. Holtzman. “You see, I've been through a lot with Mrs. Potts before and this place is a perfect hideout. But I understand. What's your plan?”

  “We are going to find Dr. Quill.” - said Jess. “We believe he is in danger, and we think that he also didn't share everything he knows. While I was at the facility I got the sense that some people there knew a bit more about things happening at the facility and the relationship to the Council and military. We are going to contact him in the city”.

  Mr. Holtzman thought for a second, nodded and said, “alright. Good luck and don't get yourself killed”.

  “That's it?” - ask
ed Jess.

  “What do you mean?” - asked Mr. Holtzman.

  “You're just going to let us go?” - asked Hank.

  “This is not a prison”, he replied. “You are free to go wherever you want, and it seems to me you have already made your mind. So, what else is there to say, then, good luck, and don't get yourself killed. I would just like to let you know that if you fail to do so, there are people who will miss you”.

  Hank nodded and went towards the door, while Jess petted Sam who was lying next to Mr. Holtzman’s chair. “Thank you, for everything”. - she said and went away.

  * * *

  That morning, at the Antarctica research facility a group of tired and overworked engineers and scientists were preparing for the experiment with the Rock. The experiment was led by Dr. Newman and overseen by Kent Garcia.

  In the lower decks of the facility, there was a huge glass wall dividing the labs from the huge cave where the Rock was peeking out from the ice. Besides the sensor grid all over this huge arena, there were several huge boxes with what appeared to be exhaust pipes. Besides, there was a huge device that looked like a powerful laser. Kent didn’t understand anything the scientists were saying as his background was far from science.

  He was walking from one lab to another and pushing the teams hard to perform the experiment today, as he was already threatened by the councilor, and this time, if he screws up, his short career as the research director is over. Though many of the scientists didn't know it, that in fact, he took over the operations. Since they didn't fully trust him, he often used Dr. Quill's name. Saying that Dr. Quill wants the results fast, and upon people asking where Dr. Quill was, he replied that he went away to personally meet with the councilor.

  As his inspection was coming to the end, he moved to the control center room and impatiently waited for the experiment to start. Finally, after almost an hour of anticipation, Dr. Newman came into the room and announced that they were ready.

  “At last”, said Kent, “let's start”.

  George Newman, too tired for Kent’s fake enthusiasm and authority, rolled his eyes and said to one of his engineers. Initiate the release of synthetic alveolar macrophage. The engineer punched in some commands on his computer and from the other side of the window, the exhausts from the devices that were placed around the Rock started evaporating whitish gas.

  After several minutes, Kent asked, “why is nothing happening?”

  “It's about to sir”, an engineer replied.

  The rock started to gain the color of the molten glass, and at that moment, Newman punched the big red button near the engineer. This started a focused acoustic beam which immediately punched a huge hole in the rock. It was turning into dust and the colors made it look as if someone is slaying a beast that bleeds sand. The floor suddenly started shaking, as it always was when the Rock was disturbed, so Kent jumped in Dr. Newman’s place and shouted, “again!” - The control engineer increased the evaporating process and repeated the acoustic beam. The floor started shaking even more this time, and a huge part of the Rock blew up in dust.

  “Again! Again!” - shouted Kent, “kill it!”

  The engineers and scientists looked in confusion at this, while the floor was shaking.

  “No!“ - said Dr. Newman. “We cannot destroy it, this is just a small scale experiment, besides we cannot do this!”

  He pushed Kent away from the control panel. Kent felt embarrassed and punched Dr. Newman so hard that he fell on the floor, and then pushed the control engineer away from his post.

  He pushed the red button and increased, what seems to be the power! - In shock, all the scientists and engineers were looking through the window on the other side, as large pieces of the Rock were becoming dust. The ground started shaking even more, and the map of the Rock, produced by the sensor array started blinking orange, and then turned red, as the ground was shaking even more now. A part of the glass started breaking, and from the destroyed part of the Rock, huge pointy crystal arrows started growing. Those violently started destroying the exhaust boxes, the laser, and even the laboratory window.

  Dr. Newman said if the glass is breached the gas is going to kill us all. The scientists started running away from the room, toward the hallway, and to the top floor. The earthquake was very strong at this point and some labs were beginning to collapse. Finally, Kent realized what he has done, and that the Rock is defending itself. It was targeting the devices that were harming it. He started running toward the hallway, and finally Dr. Newman stood up and started catching up. The lab they were in a few seconds ago collapsed, and they heard screams from the engineers that were left behind. Kent slipped on the stairs and Dr. Newman finally gained and helped him up. Kent pushed Dr. Newman away. He missed the step and started falling down the stairs into the collapsing room that was being shattered by growing pointy crystals. Finally, one struck him and killed him. As his life was leaving him, he looked at Kent in terrible disappointment. With a terrifying expression on his face, Kent turned away and started running.

  The situation in the main hallway was chaotic. The ground was shaking and the parts of the building were collapsing. Many people ran outside, but this was also not the best place to be. The ice was breaking beneath their feet, and some people fell into the ice crevices as they formed. Some people managed to run to the har parking, however, there were not enough hars for everyone, while others managed to run to the emergency pods. Small, elevator looking units that were projected far away from the Antarctica research facility into the ocean.

  Kent just managed to run to the parking lot from a hovering har, some people offered him a hand and pulled him up. As they were moving away, they saw the collapsing research facility. As Kent was looking at it collapse, other passengers were discussing something else. Kent looked at the opposite window. One of the light beams was pointing to the ocean and it revealed a huge wave traveling away from the research facility. Several waves were produced by the earthquake from the experiment.

  * * *

  Mrs. Potts was living right by one of the tunnels connecting the underwater town to the coast. Since Jess was brought in this was her first time passing that way. She stopped for a moment to admire the intricate network of glass tunnels and huge multi-story domes. There were several of those mostly hosting shared facilities. The huge domes were connected with dozens of tunnels that branched out to several hundreds of homes. The homes were mostly imitating the natural environment, with only light on the windows making them visible.

  Once they had reached the coast, Jess realized they were actually in the bay of an island that was mostly covered by rocks and scrubby evergreen vegetation. Almost hidden among the palms, there was a har parking area where they took one and headed towards the Cornat city. - The closest metropolis is located in the Adriatic sea that stretched across many islands.

  Cornat city had hundreds of bridges, underwater facilities, and floating buildings. Jess has never seen it before, except in the photos. She was amazed as it was cleverly built, and perfectly integrated with nature. The island vegetation was diverse and mostly consisted of parks, while the buildings were growing from the sea.

  After parking in one of the buildings, Hank suggested that they should get new clothing and use something that could conceal their identity.

  “How can we do that?” - asked Jess. Hank replied, ‘we need to go to a clothing house and we will find some gender-neutral clothing, some head covers, and glasses. Most importantly, we should keep our heads down, and fit into the crowd”.

  “Sir, yes sir.”, said Jess sarcastically. “You've got a better plan?” - asked Hank. Jess didn't have anything to say, but she paused to think. When she looked outside the window she noticed that there is a small public square full of people dressed weirdly. As she was about to ask Hank about that, she noticed his smirk.

  “There is a gaming conference in progress”, said Hank, “and people are dressed as their favorite characters. Though most of them make their costumes
at home, I think we can find something to fit in. Jess rolled her eyes and they stepped outside”.

  Walking towards a clothing house, they kept their heads down, but this was mostly to not be recognized. Jess's death was just recently announced by the media, so someone might have seen this and noticed it. Security cameras were very rare and there is no massive public surveillance as it has been in the past. Natural and cultural heritage mostly had camera arrays that allowed people to have interactive virtual walks from anywhere, while objects of societal interest had some cameras to provide reconnaissance information used for automation and delivery robots. Regardless, Hank was just thinking that just a bit of paranoia is justified, considering the recent few days.

  They finally dressed in new clothing, recycled the old ones, and headed towards a public coffee place with a holo terrace. Those were normal bars where the robots would serve you, as usual, however, now and then a person would work in the kitchen or the cocktail bar. Also, they were equipped for virtual meetings, having great cameras, holo-projectors, and so on. You would get a special kind of polarised glasses so only you would be able to see the other person’s holo-projection.