The Dark Rift: Ascension (The Dark Rift Book Series 1)

by RM Brewer

  "No one will be leaving you, Leah." Mei reached out and grabbed Leah’s hand as the train car made its final lurch toward the platform.

  Jodie decided to leave her gun holstered. They were in unknown territory and, most likely, outnumbered. Pulling her gun would probably only put them in greater danger. She could hear voices and the sound of footsteps coming toward the car. They came to a complete stop and Jodie moved in front of Leah to block her from whatever assault might be coming their way. She heard the swish of the door opening and looked up as a cloud of something was sprayed in her face. Her rising anger ebbed as she lost consciousness.

  * * *

  Isaiah didn’t know if he could trust anyone in the Bureau. He was being presented with an impossible choice. Trust a man he hardly knew with a wild story or take him into the office and let the agents there have at him. But, taking the time to do that might result in disaster. The Bureau was clearly involved in this situation. Even if he could manage to find an agent who wasn't, taking Evan Watts into custody would mean he would need to abandon the search for Jodie for the time being, and who knew what kind of danger she was already in. "Are you suggesting we follow Jodie down the vent?"

  "No. I’m suggesting we take an elevator. Unless, of course, you would prefer to slide down a vent. It’s so much more dramatic."

  "You can drop the sarcasm, Evan. I’m trying to help your daughter and you’re expecting a lot if you want me to take you at your word. You’re saying you know another way into that tunnel?"

  "You don’t understand. There are hundreds of routes to get down there because that vent is connected to underground caverns all over the earth. But, first of all, how do you know Jodie’s down there? Are you positive she’s gone in?"

  "It appears there was an altercation at her cabin and she’s missing now. She shared coordinates -- evidence that came off of the woman she found and from the corpse in the river that I told you about earlier -- leading to a vent that appeared to extend deep underground. Plus, there were signs of some sort of confrontation around the vent. So, either she’s in the vent or …" Isaiah’s voice trailed off.

  An anxious expression formed on Evan Watts' face. "Oh, she’s gone down the damn vent all right. Problem is, she’s in danger down there. More than she knows." He downed his drink, set the glass down and opened the desk drawer, pulling out a handgun case. "Don’t worry. I have a permit for this. We’ll need protection where we’re going. We need to be on our way. Are you with me on this?"

  "I don’t really have a choice now, do I? If I’m to believe your story, the state of California and much of the west coast will likely be obliterated, assuming your theory is correct. If it produces a tectonic shift, the San Andreas Fault would become involved."

  "Yes. That’s about the size of it. What you don’t understand is that California is only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak."

  Isaiah thought this story too crazy not to be credible. It was inconceivable that a man like Evan Watts would make up such an elaborate tale. In fact, he could have pled ignorance from the beginning and Isaiah would have no leads at all. One thing Isaiah didn't doubt was that Evan was very worried about Jodie.

  "One thing before we go. I got the feeling that it was dangerous to make inquiries about that military facility. I need to know why. I ran into brick walls repeatedly and then found some unsettling information that I’m not sure I believe yet. If what I’ve been told is true, we might need help."

  "You know, I found myself weighing whether or not to tell you the entire truth, but I realized how pointless keeping any of this to myself is. What I have to tell you is complicated and it will take some time to fill in the details. Let’s talk on our way. If you're not satisfied with my explanation by the time we get there, I’ll go in by myself and get Jodie and whoever is with her."

  Isaiah nodded as Evan Watts retrieved his jacket from a closet. "Shall we, then?" Evan motioned toward the door and he and Isaiah were on their way. Once he’d given Isaiah directions and they were on the road, Evan started explaining. "For me, it all started in the 50s. I was in my mid-twenties and found a job at Gypsum. Lead scientist for the jet propulsion research division, you know. A fairly impressive title for my age at the time. That's where I met my wife. I thought she was brilliant, that she could save the world. Together, we'd change the nature of energy use on the planet. I was so in love with her and so, so blind."

  "Oh, back to my story though. Little by little, Gypsum let me in on more information, more classified projects, secret locations, that sort of thing. They took me to the underground base you found the air vent for in the woods. That subterranean base was only one of three at the time. The construction of it began after the first contact."

  "Contact from what?" Isaiah asked.

  "From whom, you should be asking, Isaiah. And, I think you know the answer to that."

  Isaiah could see Evan Watts waiting for a reaction. "If you mean, do I believe we were contacted by extraterrestrials or something like that, I’m not sure I can even respond. Is that what you’re referring to?"

  "So, Isaiah, what exactly is an extraterrestrial? It’s some life that originated in another place. Evolution, adaptation and mutation all occur to allow organisms to adapt to their surroundings. We refer to things that come from other planets as extraterrestrial in nature and that word conjures up images of flying saucers and little green men. But, there is an origin to all life on any planet. Ours is from a distant solar system, not unlike our own. We are, by definition, extraterrestrial to planet earth."

  "I’ve heard that theory before, the one about ejecta from an explosion on one planet landing on another planet and that material evolving into a complex life form. But, how could you possibly know what came from such a distance when the exploratory vessels we've sent to other solar systems haven't even arrived at their destinations yet?"

  Evan Watts’ voice was deliberate and unwavering. "You’re right. We haven’t gone there. They came here. Isaiah, what I have to tell you about has been in the making since long before man ever walked the earth. I’m not overstating the situation when I say what is in motion now will bring on the end of all things as we know them, unless we can put a stop to at least part of it. The tunnel Jodie’s inside of right now is part of a network connecting to three subterranean areas, one underneath California, the other in Egypt and the third, off the coast of Bermuda. You’re probably familiar with stories about the last one I mentioned. It’s located in the center of the Bermuda triangle."

  "The Bermuda triangle? I’m not sure I understand. The information I received seemed to indicate that the facility under California was part of a rogue government agency. I had the idea there was some government conspiracy, or something, taking place. What does Bermuda have to do with it?"

  "It’s not a conspiracy. It’s international cooperation. Representatives from virtually every country in the world are involved in this plan. Some of them understand what they're contributing to. Others have been kept in the dark."

  "And what, exactly, is this plan, as you call it?"

  "To explain that, I’d need to start at the very beginning. You know about the lines of earth energy, right?"

  "Sorry, but you’ve lost me already," Isaiah said. He felt his head spinning.

  "Okay, no doubt you know about places like Stonehenge and the Rings or Brodgar in Orkney. Or at least you’ve heard of these places and a variety of theories about why they exist, right?"

  Isaiah nodded, although he was starting to wonder what kind of delusion these people were under.

  "The massive stones at these places, the pyramids, and other megaliths were positioned centuries ago to tap into earth energy. Pyramids were also aligned with celestial bodies in reverence to them or to glean even more energy. Early inhabitants of our planet knew the power of nature and didn’t destroy it trying to obtain resources. Earth energy, very simply put, is energy created by geologic changes, shifts in tectonic plates, radiation emission and that kind of thing.
Early humans were instructed to build these monoliths to extract that energy. Reportedly, it has healing powers and is of spiritual significance for those who are able to tap into it."

  "Okay, I'm not sure I understand where you’re going with this story. First of all, what do you mean, instructed?" Isaiah asked, thinking, here comes the really crazy part.

  "You already know what I mean, but you don’t believe this concept. Let me continue and see if I can persuade you. Once energy from a planet is harnessed, it can be collected and focused using an emissions device of sorts to send it over a long distance. You’ve heard about the power of pyramids, no doubt?"

  "Yes, Evan, and I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but this story already sounds completely implausible." I really should have said completely crazy, Isaiah thought.

  "Like I said, let me continue. So far, we’ve established there is earth energy. You do buy that the moon has a gravitational pull on the ocean that controls tides, right?"

  "Yes, that, I get."

  "Then it shouldn’t be much of a reach to say all planets have energy and celestial bodies all exert forces on each other. The energy of the earth is powerful and, if it’s disrupted, a lot of unusual things start happening. I know you’ve probably read about the mass groundings of whales and dolphins. For no apparent reason, hundreds of them ground themselves and die. They’re wired to follow earth’s energy in a specific direction, across a pattern that has been in existence for thousands of years. When that pattern is disrupted, they end up in the wrong place at the wrong time, yet they keep following their pre-programmed map until there’s no going back."

  "So, you’re saying that something is interrupting the natural flow of earth’s energy? The people in the tunnel? But, why?"

  "They’re focusing earth energy to fuel their project. The three places I told you about are points below the earth’s surface that the people in the tunnel, as you call them, have been working on since the 1950s. The pyramid currently under seawater in the Bermuda Triangle was originally constructed by the inhabitants of an ancient city to tap into geothermal energy off the coast of Cuba. It became submerged as coastal areas were inundated by catastrophic flooding during the last ice age. Now, it's needed for the project."

  "Okay, Evan. So, this pyramid has been buried under seawater for a really long time and the people in the tunnel have been messing around with it for over sixty years. Whatever they're doing also disrupts earth energy flow patterns. So, let me guess. Are you also saying the crashes and missing aircraft in the Bermuda Triangle are due to these disruptions?"

  "Some of them, yes. Unanticipated consequences of screwing with Mother Nature. Since 1953, Gypsum has expended a tremendous amount of effort in preparing to raise the pyramid because it needs to be exposed to the surface. Once it's lifted up, it will function as one of the three pyramids that will emit harvested earth energy through a portal."

  "A portal? You mean like a hole in the atmosphere or something like that?"

  "Yes. But not so much a hole, as a defined area of gravitational pull that connects with the dark rift." Evan stopped talking for a moment and stared at Isaiah. "If you don’t mind me saying so, Isaiah, you look a bit bewildered."

  "That’s a correct assumption. But, feel free to continue. You can't possibly confuse me anymore than you have already. We were just talking about the dark rift. That’s part of the dark energy in the Milky Way. That’s what you’re telling me?"

  "Yes. The portal for ascension into the rift is already in place at the Egyptian pyramid I told you about. That portal would transport people and materials first, so Gypsum will move everyone there before the rest of the sequence begins. Then, the emissions from all three pyramids will be combined by triangulating and fusing them into a single source during which the portal will literally suck all the remaining energy from the earth. And that's where our more immediate problem starts. In order to maximize the amount of energy gleaned from the planet, Gypsum, under the guidance of our otherworldly neighbors, has planned a series of explosions to not only lift the pyramids to the surface, but to trigger as much tectonic activity as possible across the entire earth."

  "These extraterrestrials you keep talking about. Why would they want to do a thing like that? Why destroy the earth? Why not just take the people they have and leave?"

  "The simple answer is because, to them, the earth is one giant natural resource to harvest and tectonic activity provides a tremendous amount of instantaneous energy. Right now, the Bermuda Triangle pyramid lies under hundreds of feet of seawater. There’s some urgency to the situation since the site was exposed publicly as aerial photography became more refined over the past decade, revealing its existence. Now it's considered an archaeological site. Any amount of probing into it would uncover the plan, so efforts have been made by Gypsum to stop or slow archaeological investigations. The same actions were taken to thwart investigations around a buried pyramid in Egypt, and for the pyramid right under our feet."

  Isaiah felt completely speechless. "Right under our feet, as in, there’s a pyramid under California? Evan, I just need to ask. Are you on any sort of medication?"

  "Why, yes. I take Lipitor for my cholesterol. If you mean, am I mentally deranged, no. I think you need to be patient and see it for yourself."

  "If I'm to believe this story, there are humans who’ve been working underground for decades, harnessing the energy of the earth. They've taken steps, as you call them, to keep from being discovered. Why, may I ask? Is something going to happen to the earth soon that necessitates us leaving it with such urgency?" Isaiah felt this story was becoming more incredible by the moment.

  "Because that’s the way it’s been done since the dawn of time. Conditions are ripe for them to collect the remaining energy of the planet. How many times have you heard about a distant planet that was found to contain ice or other resources that could have once supported biological life? It’s not too much of a stretch to allow you to accept the idea that organisms like us once lived on those planets. What I’m telling you is that they weren’t just like us, they were us."

  "You’re saying they’re not aliens, as in, another sort of organism. They're an advanced - at least technologically - part of the human race? You're also saying we’re going to abandon the earth. So, human beings colonize a planet, use up the resources, and then just move on to another planet, right?" Isaiah tried to comprehend the enormous effort required to implement this plan and wondered if there was any way it could be true. What he did know was, since the 1950s, trillions of dollars were being funneled toward this project. Whatever was going on, it was big. Really big.

  "Yes, in effect. It’s recolonization on a grand scale. The timing is right now because earth is on the verge of releasing massive amounts of energy. The amount of tectonic activity over the next fifty years will be unprecedented and the transfer of potential to kinetic energy will be lost if it's not harvested first."

  While that made sense to Isaiah, he didn't want to accept what Evan would probably be telling him next. He wondered how anyone could possibly harvest kinetic energy of the magnitude generated by earthquakes. "Please keep going. I'm with you so far."

  "Tectonic plates are shifting all the time. If it happens gradually, that kind of movement can be absorbed by the planet. Damage occurs -- you know, flooding from tsunamis, property damage, that sort of thing -- but once it's over, the tectonic action is stifled for some time. Then we rebuild, recover, and wait for the next big one to hit. What Gypsum has been working on is preparations to initiate a catastrophe. All that potential energy can be released in one well-orchestrated event, with the right kind of trigger. Besides speeding up the process, what’s different this time is that the contingent in charge has devalued the diversity of human life. Since 1950, they’ve been collecting. And, thanks to my ex-wife, they’ve been very selective."

  Isaiah’s mind was a jumble of questions, with no answers apparent. "I’m not sure I follow you. What have they been collecting? Do you m
ean plants or animals, or what?"

  "I mean the DNA of all species -- at least what we know of -- millions of them, including humans. Think of it more as assembling the passengers for Noah’s ark. The amassing of species has been done each time a planet is abandoned. But, this time, the human genome is being screwed around with. Imagine what traits you could select for and eliminate if you had the technology. You would have the power to exterminate entire races, or to deselect specific attributes, like height, weight, hair color ... probably even sexual preference. You might understand my ex-wife's poor relationship with her daughter if you ponder that statement for a moment."

  Isaiah kept milling over the idea of Evan fabricating this story and couldn't come up with a rational reason why he would. He tried to narrow his choices to the man being completely off his rocker or possibly just delusional. There was no way his story could be true. Yet, Evan's sincerity and the details he provided were slowly winning over Isaiah's mind. He kept looking for a hole in the fabric of the story. "How will this all start, exactly?"

  "The first of the three pyramids that need to be activated is in the Bermuda Triangle. The sequence must be initiated there because it will take the longest. The entire planet will be aware something is happening, but people will think that tectonic activity is causing it. A massive explosive device will be detonated, causing seawater to rush into the tunnel system under the submerged pyramid. Once the cavern fills with seawater, it will displace the air into connecting tunnels, which will force the slab the pyramid is constructed on to move upwards, kind of like an elaborate mud jacking operation. When the uplifting of that location is complete, the sequence underneath California will begin."

  "Come on, now," Isaiah said, trying to stifle the laugh that wanted to escape from him. "Don't you think it's a bit crazy to think someone could mud jack a pyramid up from under the ocean? I'm sorry, but that part I can't buy. Let's say I accept the idea of explosives, though. If Gypsum is really going through with this plan, disruption of tectonic activity in California could have dire consequences."