Ionic Attraction

by D. R. Rosensteel

  “These are the plans for the Collider.” Zach’s heart thumped wildly against his chest. “How did you get that?”

  “I have clearance,” she said. “I can get anything we need.”

  Zach was in total shock. “Wait, it’s not right. It’s been modified. The Supercompact Muon Solenoid has an odd configuration. The magnets are nonsymmetrical. Proton synchrotron is like none I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if this is Mamont’s intent, but it looks like black hole simulation is possible with this thing. Combined with the quark-gluon plasma at the instant of impact, this Collider could theoretically—”

  Zach was dumbfounded. The Large Hadron Collider was never meant to blast a hole in the ozone. Mamont wasn’t lying about doing good. The machine could actually heal the hole in the ozone. Zach looked up from the tablet screen. “The Oh Three Project is real.”

  Piper’s eyebrow arched. “Yeah.”

  “With the controllers I’m building, this collider will combine the extreme gravitational pull of a black hole with matter produced from quark-gluon plasma to pull the hole in on itself.”

  “Um, okay.” Piper pointed to herself. “Psychology. Remember?”

  “You know what happens if you put a vacuum cleaner on an empty two-liter bottle?”

  “Collapses.”

  “Exactly. Once I finish the quark generator, we can do that to the hole in the ozone.”

  “You’re building a giant vacuum cleaner?” Piper said.

  “I’m building a machine that will fill in the hole with new ozone. My modifications will turn the particle beam into dark matter. It will have such a powerful gravitational pull that it will collapse the hole in on itself. The beam will totally close it.”

  “That’s wonderful.” Piper took Zach’s hand again. She brought her lips close to his then turned her head and whispered in his ear. “I know where Professor Mamont keeps the video he has on Jane. But you have to help me. I want out.”

  “Why don’t you just leave?”

  “Same reason you don’t,” Piper said. “He has something on me.”

  “What?”

  “I’d rather not say.” She looked away.

  Zach glanced at the bruise on her arm. “Tell me what you need.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Jane

  “Plan B,” Jane said to Anna. “How close?”

  “As close as we were an hour ago when it all hit the fan,” Anna said.

  “So not an option.”

  “Still untested,” Mina jumped in. “He’ll never let us use it.”

  Jane knew Mina meant her father. She wanted so badly to call him, but he didn’t like to be interrupted when he was in Washington. Unless it’s an emergency, he’d always told her. “I’ll ask.” She punched up her dad on her phone and put him on speaker.

  Right to voicemail. Jane shoved the phone into her pocket and fought a scream.

  “What is Plan B?” Nolan asked. “You act like it’s all cryptic and secret.”

  “Alternate escape plan,” Mina said. “And it is.”

  “What?”

  “Cryptic and secret.”

  “Can’t you even give us a tiny detail?” Michael asked. “We might be able to help test it.”

  Nolan grinned. “We said we were sorry.”

  “Plan B is a new tech that we won’t need,” Jane said. “I studied the seismology plots you pulled, Michael. The underground is part of the caves under Quantum City. We’ll get in and out through the access beneath the Mastermind Complex.”

  Her phone vibrated and she pulled it out of her pocket. When she saw who was calling, her heart leaped. “Excuse me, I have to take this.”

  Jane left the War Room calmly, closed the door behind her, and sprinted to the end of the hall. “Hi, Dad!”

  “You must be alone.”

  Jane nodded. When she realized what she had done, she laughed. “I’m in the hall. When are you coming home? I miss you.”

  “I have only a minute. I saw you called. Fill me in.”

  “Oh. Okay.” All business, as usual. Why did she even think she’d get an I miss you, too, honey? “We’ve lost communication with Zachary and have reason to believe he’s in danger. I’m leading a rescue mission.”

  “You are not.” Her father’s voice was cold, matter-of-fact. “I’ll take care of it.”

  “But Dad.” Anguish settled in her heart.

  “Out of the question. Do you understand? Don’t make me regret coming to Washington.”

  “We can’t wait.” Just once, she wished he would be the same at work as he was at home. The dad who was there for her. “I’m sorry for the hot and cold nature of our working relationship, Mr. Parker, but you left me to take care of an important mission, and I intend to take care of it. I’m sorry, sir. I have to go.”

  “Jane,” her dad said. “Listen to me—”

  “Zachary hates me because of what I did. Right now I really need you, Dad, but instead I get my boss.” She let out a sharp breath. “I don’t even know why I care. Have a good trip.”

  Jane disconnected and dropped to her knees. She just had to accept it. She would always be Jane Lew, never Jane Parker. And he would always be Dad by exception, never by default.

  That’s how it would be.

  She had to move on. Jane felt the acid rush of anger through her veins, and tears gave way to resolve. She would accept Jane Lew for who she was, the youngest intelligence officer of a secret organization dedicated to fighting terrorism. She was good at it. She could see things that adults missed. Deer Lodge needed her. Grandma needed her. Zachary might hate her forever, but whether he liked it or not he needed her, too. Nobody else could stop HAVOC. She forced herself to her feet and went back to the War Room.

  “What’s wrong?” Anna asked as Jane walked through the door.

  “Nothing.” Jane wiped her wet cheeks. “It’s time to go.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Zach

  “Finish building that thing first,” Piper said, pointing to the quark detector. “We don’t want Professor Mamont to suspect anything.”

  “Agreed.” Zach didn’t like Piper, but he liked Mamont even less. Once she showed him where the professor kept the fake video of Jane, he would take it and leave. He’d help Piper if he could. She didn’t deserve Mamont’s abuse. “I have to check one more thing, then I’ll be finished.”

  Something bugged him about the configuration of the proton synchrotron. If it was built according to the plans Piper had shown him, there was a chance it would fail in mid-cycle because of the force of the Large Hadron Collider’s beam. But when he removed the cover plates, Zach realized that it was a standard synchrotron. Definitely not built according to the drawings.

  “Piper, we have a problem. The magnets in this synchrotron are reversed.” He looked again. “All the magnets are reoriented. Oh, man, what did they do to the collimator? And the betatron has been totally redesigned. The drawings you showed me…they’re all wrong. I mean, if this thing was built according to those drawings, it would definitely heal the ozone. But configured like this, the Large Hadron Collider will produce a highly magnetized beam with an axial gravitational pull. Axial, not radial.”

  “I have no idea what you just said.” Piper’s voice came out high, panicky. “But it sounds bad.”

  “If Mamont fires this thing during the meteor shower, it will pull whatever it hits right down to Earth.”

  Piper’s eyes went wide. “I don’t understand.”

  “The collider plans you showed me are fake. Mamont tricked you. He’s building a giant tractor beam. I think he plans to pull an asteroid out of its path and drop it on a city. If I’m right, hundreds of people will die.”

  “I think you mean thousands.” Piper put a hand on her hip.

  “You don’t believe me.”


  “Oh, I totally believe you. I told him you would figure it out, but the good professor doesn’t understand your brilliant mind the way I do. No matter.”

  Zach suddenly felt like he had made a huge mistake. Then he noticed her arm. “Where did your bruise go?”

  Piper rubbed it and grinned. “Iodine comes right off with a little soap.”

  “You lied to me.”

  “Duh.” She pulled out her phone and tapped the screen. “Guards.”

  Suddenly the lab door burst open and armed guards poured through, guns leveled on Zach. He threw his hands in the air and stared at Piper.

  “I guess your girlfriend was right not to like me,” she said. “I’m a bad girl.”

  Zach dropped his hands to his sides and turned to the guards. “Just shoot me now.”

  “No one is getting shot today.” Mamont walked into the room with a woman in a business suit beside him. They stopped next to the guards. “Put those things down.”

  The guards lowered their weapons.

  “So nice to see you again, Zachary,” the woman said.

  “Dr. Reddington?” Zach recognized her from the Geomagnetic Consortium.

  “You asked such insightful questions when I was onstage,” she said. “I was hoping Piper could convince you to be involved in the Oh Three project.”

  “You’re in this with him?” He pointed at Mamont.

  The professor offered an oily grin and put his arm around Dr. Reddington. “Of course she is. She also believes in being a force for good. Together, we’ve found a way to bring out the goodness of humanity that no one has ever tried before.”

  “Since when is destroying a town good?”

  “I can explain.” Dr. Reddington’s eyes became distant. “My ex-husband is a very cruel man. But I know that somewhere deep down inside, there is good. You’ve met him.”

  Zach had no idea what she was talking about. “The only cruel people I ever met were prison guards and inmates.”

  “Does the name Ace ring a bell?”

  Zach sucked in his breath. “You’re married to that barbarian?”

  “Was.” Dr. Reddington smiled. “We had a beautiful son together. Come in, Ben.”

  Benson Graham sauntered into the room. “It’s about time. We could have done this weeks ago and been finished by now.”

  “Always in a rush.” Dr. Reddington patted Benson’s cheek.

  “Wait, Benson is your son?” Zach’s brain was frying trying to keep up with all these connections. Jane made it look so easy— No. Don’t think about her.

  “Yes,” Dr. Reddington said. “And like me, he wants to bring out the good in his father. Professor Mamont and I have noticed that humanity’s capacity for good comes out best in times of affliction. Benson’s father comes from a small town in Montana. He still has family there. So my plan is to pull an asteroid from its path to destroy his home. Think of how the survivors will come together. We believe it’s just the little push that Ace needs to find the goodness that I know is in his heart.”

  “You’re sick, lady,” Zach said.

  She shook her head. “No, I’m a scientist. We test theories. This is simply an experiment. Now that you’ve played your part, I need one more thing from you. You are the only human who’s ever been unaffected by prolonged exposure to Darkside. I need to know how you did it.”

  “Darkside? Never heard of it.”

  “Perhaps not by that name. What about Blackbody?”

  Zach gasped.

  “I see you recognize that name,” Dr. Reddington said. “I’ve increased its absorption capability, and I’d like to see how it affects you, if you don’t mind.”

  “Don’t get your hopes up.” Zach was shaking. “I’m not going back inside that thing.”

  “Hope. That’s really what it comes down to, isn’t it?” Dr. Reddington’s eyes moved slowly toward the ceiling. She took a breath and touched her chin. “Hopeless people are easy to use. Hope makes them difficult. They begin to think they matter. I designed Darkside to destroy the illusion of hope. Hope leads to silly things. Faith in humanity. Faith in God. It causes people to miss what’s really important.”

  “Which is?”

  “Doing what it takes to bring out the good in people. No matter what.”

  “Even if it means killing them?” he spat. “You have issues, lady.”

  Dr. Reddington turned to Mamont. “You see, this is what I meant. He’s totally noncompliant. If we absorb that portion of his personality, we can convert it to code for you. Your troubles will be a thing of the past.”

  “It is possible that we’ve taken the absorption power too far, my dear,” Mamont said. “A human may not survive. Then where will we be?”

  Dr. Reddington shrugged. “We’ll have the code we need to keep you safe.”

  “Safe from what?” Zach couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

  “Some misguided humans took away my willpower once,” Mamont said. “I got it back but had to blow up a building to keep them from doing it again. We believe you have the code that will keep me safe from people like them.”

  “You see, Zachary,” Dr. Reddington said, “when I built Isaac—”

  “You built him?”

  She nodded as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Of course.”

  “Mamont is…” He didn’t need Jane for this one. The connection was crystal clear. And utterly unbelievable. “A Synthetic?”

  “Professor Mamont.” Dr. Reddington raised an eyebrow at Zach as though he was a disruptive student in class. “We haven’t told anyone yet because we don’t need a repeat of fifteen years ago. But now that we have you to help, it will become a non-issue. I’d like to stay, but Isaac and I have several things to tend to before we test our theory with Ace. Piper, dear, please take care of things while we’re gone, would you? And take good notes. Set up the video so I can watch from my office.”

  “It will be a pleasure,” Piper said as Mamont and Dr. Reddington left the room. “So, Zachy, let me fill in the blanks for you. Before we suck out your mind, we have to break your will. Benson has a device he’ll try out on you before you go into Darkside.”

  The smug expression on Benson’s face made Zach lose all fear. He was done with Jane, but even if he didn’t leave the underground alive, Benson would pay for what he did to her.

  “I want to know everything he knows,” Piper said. She kissed Benson on the lips. “Everything.”

  “Believe me, you will.” Benson grinned, flashing his braces.

  “Be careful how close you get to me, Benny,” Zach snarled. “I have a vendetta.”

  “Very chivalrous of you.” Benson tried unsuccessfully to keep his teeth from showing as he spoke. “I guess Jane told you about us.”

  “You tortured her.”

  “Jane was nothing but a project to me.”

  “Which is why I’m going to break your jaw.” Zach jerked forward like he was going to attack.

  Benson gasped and backed away.

  “Grow a set, Ben,” Piper said. Then she pointed to Zach. “Guards.”

  The guards walked toward Zach, guns leveled at his chest. His eyes snapped to the gun barrels, and he sucked in his breath. They forced him back until he bumped against the wire cage that housed the computer equipment. He fought to keep his legs from shaking.

  “Inside,” Piper said.

  His breathing became strained as he backed through the cage door and stepped inside. Piper followed him while the guards kept their guns trained on him.

  “Now sit,” Piper said, pointing to the metallic armchair.

  Muscles tensed and jaw tight, Zach did as he was told. He watched in silence as Piper buckled leather constraints around his wrists. He was trapped.

  “Good boy,” she said. “Stay. Benson has to go fetch his interrogation
equipment.”

  “Yeah,” Benson said as he left the room. “The cutting edge of electrotherapy. Same equipment I used on Jane.”

  “I guess I should be scared.” At the mention of Jane’s name, Zach found his voice. He tugged at the braces, trying not to let on that he was terrified.

  Piper shrugged. “I’ll leave you two alone. Oh, where are my manners? Thank you for making the Large Hadron Collider fully operational.”

  “I guess I’m of little value now. You’re expecting Benson to kill me when he’s finished playing, right?”

  “Not at all,” Piper said. “Dr. Reddington was serious. We’re going to absorb your mind and turn it into code. As soon as Benson is convinced that his shock therapy has weakened your will, Darkside will do the rest. We have no plans to kill you. Somebody has to be blamed when the city falls.”

  The door opened, and Benson wheeled in a large device loaded with dials and electrodes.

  “Have fun.” Piper waltzed out through the door Benson had come in.

  Benson plucked a set of alligator clips from the machine he had wheeled in. “So, Zachy, let’s see if you handle this better than Jane did.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Jane

  “I’m going after Zachary.” Jane pushed the pain of her father’s coldness from her mind. Everyone in the War Room had eyes on her. “You can stay here or come with me. I really don’t care either way. But if you come along, you’ll do what I tell you.”

  “I’m in,” Nolan said, terror on his face.

  Michael jumped out of his chair. “Me too.”

  “LYDIA,” Jane snapped. “Can you get a video feed from the underground?”

  The underground is on its own network, but they are transmitting intermittently to Dr. Linda Reddington’s office. The signal is very weak, and I can pull only snapshots.

  The War Room monitors flashed static, and then an image that froze Jane’s heart filled the screen—Zachary strapped to a steel chair, surrounded by computer equipment. As quickly as the image appeared, it was gone.