And then Craft had lied to her to get her to temporarily sever his connection to what he called the zero point field. He had told her this would help him sleep. Restore balance to his mind.
It was brilliant! Craft could use his device on Al Yad while remaining temporarily immune from it himself. Craft might be pure evil, but there was no denying his cunning. And it would have worked if Al Yad hadn’t intercepted Alyssa Aronson.
Not that there was ever any doubt that he would. The moment he heard the recording of Bahar’s initial interrogation of her he had seen the possibilities, had seen what this could mean. He was sure Craft had also. He just had no idea Craft would choose to be so devious about it.
But Al Yad had no doubt that when the drug had been resynthesized, Craft, or his whore, would travel to Kansas for it. He had made sure that Bahar had assigned an entire team to surveil this lab.
When Turco contacted Bahar and offered his services, this was icing on the cake. With Craft in the equation, there were no guarantees Al Yad could wrestle Aronson away from him. And had Al Yad failed to do so, he would have been forced to kill her immediately, so Craft couldn’t use her.
But with Turco in the picture, someone Craft and the Jew trusted, his odds of success had increased dramatically. And acquiring the decryption code to the whore’s phone had been an added bonus.
But the most earth-shattering bonus of all had come four hours after Aronson had been in Bahar’s custody. The proof that Allah was merciful and just. That he loved Al Yad, Allah’s personification on Earth, and that he rewarded patience.
A final message from Eben Martin, which the whore had never seen. Since Martin was almost certainly dead, the last message he would ever send to anyone. A broad smile came over Al Yad’s face as he began reading it yet again, with all of the reverence reserved for the holiest passages of the Koran.
Alyssa, if you’re reading this, chances are that Brennan Craft is beyond redemption and I am dead.
I am writing this after returning from my first visit with you in Costa Rica. As a failsafe. Bren is showing alarming signs, which both of us have begun to notice. I worry he may be in the early stages of heading down the path Omar Haddad headed down before him.
Hopefully, this won’t be the case. But if this spirals out of control in the weeks and months to come, and I end up dead somehow, this message to you may be the only defense the world has against both Bren and Al Yad. At this point, Bren is still himself more often than not, but I like to plan ahead, and this is too important not to take this step.
Unless I reset the clock once in every twelve hour period, this message is scheduled to be sent to you automatically. And since I fully intend to reset it without fail, the fact that you’re reading this means that Bren’s condition has deteriorated to an alarming degree, and that I am either dead or incapacitated.
Bren misled you about the hold he has over Al Yad. You wondered why his fairly toothless bluff has continued to work all this time. The answer is that it hasn’t. Bren invented a device he calls the quantum mirror, when Haddad was first turning into Al Yad. Within a few seconds of this device being activated, and for about the next six hours, some kind of anti-zero-point-energy matrix will encompass the entire Earth. During this time, anyone tapping into the zero point field is killed. Their very connection basically blows up in their faces. Or, rather, in their minds.
Bren threatened to use this quantum mirror if Al Yad didn’t mind his manners. Since neither can stop tapping the field, even while they’re sleeping, activating the device is an automatic death sentence for them both. Bren doesn’t want to die, so he has been trying to find other solutions. A dangerous game, but I can’t say I blame him.
Al Yad knows Bren can phone the device at any time and feed in a code to activate it. That’s what’s keeping him at bay.
When Bren was the good, sane man we had both come to love, he gave me the number and code to activate this device. As a backup. If he died somehow, I could use it immediately to kill Al Yad.
But given Bren’s recent uncharacteristic behavior, I’ve come to realize I may need to activate this device while Bren is still alive. If he follows Haddad down the path of insanity, I’ll have no other choice but to kill them both. It isn’t a decision I would take lightly. But if Bren realizes I might take this step, there is a danger that he could take pre-emptive action so that I can’t.
Which is the reason for this message. Since you’re now reading it, the situation has gotten out of control. Bren must have gotten far worse, and I must have been too weak to kill my friend in time. I probably tried to save Bren from himself and failed.
So do not try to save him. You can’t make the same mistake I must have made. Activate this quantum mirror device IMMEDIATELY. I know how hard this will be for you, but it is something you have to do. Just make sure you aren’t anywhere near Bren when you activate it, or else you could be caught in the resulting blast.
As I write this, I know how much you care about Bren. If he’s been able to hide his deteriorating condition from you, you may still care just as deeply for him when you get this message. But no matter what, you can’t hesitate. You and I both know the man he was when you first met him would want you to do this.
Alyssa, you are an amazing woman in every way. Beautiful, brilliant, down-to-earth, funny, and hopelessly optimistic and romantic, despite your clandestine background, which turns most people cynical and distrusting.
I have to admit to being jealous of Bren since I’ve come to know you. I’m sure there are many men who could have fallen in love with you had they met you under the right circumstances, and I am one of them.
As a token of my admiration for you, and as penance for this terrible responsibility I am placing on your shoulders, I have made certain allowances for you in my will, which, since you’re reading this message, will probably be read far sooner than I would have liked.
The telephone number and code to activate the quantum mirror follows. I can’t possibly express how sorry I am that it has come to this. I can only hope that there really is an afterlife, and we can be reunited there someday.
In the meanwhile, rid the world of its two greatest threats, and go on and have the prosperous, happy life you so richly deserve.
Your good friend,
Eben Martin.
Al Yad read the numbers that followed and laughed out loud. He was aware that Allah worked in mysterious ways. He just wasn’t aware that he had such a rich sense of humor—and of irony.
55
Al Yad decided he had reread these messages enough. It was time to visit his prize.
What had transpired after Aronson’s last message to Martin was easy enough to deduce. Unlike her, the billionaire had known about the quantum mirror. So when she had texted him that Craft wanted her to temporarily disrupt his ability to connect to the divine, Martin had guessed Craft’s intentions immediately. Martin’s return text, insisting that she not do this, could not have been more emphatic.
And then Martin had made one last effort to convince Brennan Craft he should switch from the path he was on. And Martin had died for his stupidity. Without being alive to reset the clock, Martin’s message had been sent to Aronson automatically, as he had planned.
But sent just a little too late.
Al Yad entered the room in which Alyssa Aronson had been waiting and floated to a landing in front of her, in full robes and headdress. As usual his close-cropped beard was neatly trimmed, he was well-scrubbed, and he radiated power and confidence.
He reached into the divine and caused the door to shut behind him. Unlike most, she seemed unimpressed. Since she was Craft’s whore, after all, and had experienced this type of power, this didn’t surprise him.
“Alyssa Aronson,” he said in delight, making his voice supernaturally rich and resonant. He could tell from her reaction that the God-like voice he projected was intimidating. “Or should I say, Dr. Alyssa Aronson. I have been so looking forward to meeting you.”
/> A flash of hatred came over her face but it quickly disappeared. She took several deep breaths, and Al Yad could tell she was forcing herself to tread cautiously. As well she should. He needed her desperately, but she had no way to know this. As far as she knew, insolence would be suicidal.
“Why am I here?” she asked, but calmly rather than defiantly.
He was impressed that she seemed prepared to keep the discourse civilized, whatever the reason. If she was willing to be civilized, he would be as well. Besides, he would soon need her cooperation, willing or otherwise.
“You are here to answer my questions,” he replied. “After this, we shall see. There may be other services I shall require.”
She shrank back, and he could tell she thought the other services he spoke of were sexual in nature. He was a God. Touching this diseased Jewish whore would be the last thing he would ever do.
“Follow me,” he said, deciding not to disabuse her of the false and insulting conclusion she had drawn.
He led her to a nearby room. A bald man was waiting inside, near a table on which expensive, state-of-the-art polygraph equipment was resting.
“This is Aziz,” said Al Yad, gesturing for her to have a seat across the small table facing him. “He is my lie-detector expert. Tariq tells me that this is the preferred way to be certain about the truthfulness of information.”
Aziz spent the next ten minutes carefully hooking her up to the device, with the readout displayed on a computer screen in front of him.
“This will work best for our purposes,” explained Al Yad. “I expect absolute truth at all times. Without fail. If you lie, Aziz and this device will know it. And one of your nieces shall die. Do you understand?”
He spread several photographs on the table, depicting members of her family, which Bahar had shown her earlier.
Alyssa swallowed hard, her hands involuntarily balling into fists. “Yes,” she managed to croak out.
Al Yad waited impatiently while Aziz asked her simple questions to get a baseline reading: her name, age, sex, and so on, and then instructed her to lie so he could calibrate the system.
“She is ready, oh Great One,” said Aziz in Arabic when he had finished.
“Use English, Aziz,” he instructed. “For the benefit of our guest.”
Al Yad turned to Alyssa and gave her a predatory smile. “Where is Brennan Craft?” he asked.
She told him the location of their complex without hesitation. Adam Turco had already indicated they were in Costa Rica, but even Turco had never been given their exact location.
Aziz, who was studying the computer screen carefully, caught Al Yad’s eye and nodded. Given the threat to her family, Al Yad expected Aronson to be truthful unless something big was on the line. He turned to Aziz. “I shall assume she is being honest. If this is ever not the case, I expect you to alert me immediately.”
“Yes, Great One,” replied Aziz, this time in his heavily accented English.
Al Yad turned back to Alyssa. “Why did Craft seek you out?”
“He couldn’t achieve the level of belief that you have. Belief in his ability to tap the zero point field. He wanted me to help him using narco-hypnotic techniques I’ve developed.”
“What else did he want?”
“Nothing,” she said. “I mean, I guess he also wanted companionship and that sort of thing.”
“But nothing other than this?”
She shook her head.
The cult leader looked at Aziz questioningly, and the bald expert nodded.
Al Yad smiled. She really didn’t have any knowledge of the quantum mirror. Outstanding! But just to be certain, he would explore this more directly. “Did he ever mention any devices he had built?”
After several seconds of thought, Alyssa shook her head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Al Yad studied her carefully. “Have you ever heard the phrase, quantum mirror?”
Alyssa squinted and searched her memory. “Never.”
The puzzled look on her face was all he needed to see, but he again looked to Aziz, who nodded.
Interesting. Craft had pretended to be in love with her, but only so he could better pull her strings, better use her as the unwitting dupe she was.
“Why did you break into the lab in Kansas?” he asked.
“I was going after a drug there.”
Al Yad pulled a small plastic vial from under his robe. “This drug?”
Alyssa nodded. “Yes. Brennan was becoming irrational. And he knew it. He thought it was because he could never turn his ability off. He remembered that I had achieved great success with involuntary nervous tics. He thought I might be able to strip him of his belief temporarily, so he could have a rest from the zero point field.”
“And do you believe you could have accomplished this?”
“After my success improving his abilities, I have very little doubt. The drug you’re holding is very special in this regard. With this and my proven protocols, I could have killed his ability to tap the zero point field for any length of time he specified, voluntarily and involuntarily. If I programmed this in, he would no longer be able to use zero point energy during this period, even if he wanted to.”
“How have you and he been getting along recently?”
“What does that have to do with anything?” she snapped.
“Answer the question!”
Alyssa swallowed hard. “Not well,” she said.
“I want specifics.”
She turned away and lowered her eyes. “I’m afraid of him. I think he’s a danger to me and to everyone else.”
“Would you kill him if you could?”
She hesitated. “He can’t be killed. So it’s a pointless question.”
Al Yad gestured meaningfully at the pictures of her young nieces and nephews, the oldest of whom couldn’t be more than ten. He caused one photo to rise and hover in front of her face, depicting a girl of maybe eight or nine playing hopscotch on a school playground. “I can’t believe you need me to remind you of how much is riding on your full cooperation,” he said.
He returned the photo to the table. “So you have one more chance. Would you kill Brennan Craft if you could?”
Her eyes filled with moisture. “I don’t know,” she whispered. “Maybe. If temporarily severing his link to the field didn’t work, didn’t restore him to his former self . . .” She shuddered. “Then yes.”
“Has everything she said so far been the truth, Aziz?”
“Yes, oh Great One.”
Al Yad turned to Alyssa and barely managed to avoid grinning. Craft had planned to use this whore to destroy him, but he had intercepted her, and would now use her in the same way Craft had intended. Craft’s plan had backfired, blown up in his face. The same way Craft’s zero point field would blow up in his face when the quantum mirror device was activated.
Al Yad sighed heavily. “I’m going to admit something to you,” he said to Alyssa. “I’ve come to believe I suffer from the same condition as Craft. For some time now. I can’t sleep either. I need a break from this energy. Would you be willing to do for me what you were going to do for Craft?”
“I’m not sure I understand,” she said, her eyes narrowing. “You want me to temporarily cut you off from the zero point field?”
“Yes. For eight hours. Just as you were going to do for Craft. I think it would do wonders for me. My mind is weary. I desperately need a break.”
Alyssa paused to consider this request, obviously taken aback by it. “Okay, Al Yad,” she said, surprising him by using this name. “If it might help you, I would be glad to do it.”
“And you won’t try anything deceptive? No tricks while I’m under the influence of drugs and hypnosis?” He paused. “Before you answer, know that I won’t just trust you. That I shall first test the drug on one of my subjects. The same dose I will be given. Then I shall give irrevocable orders that your family is to be wiped out at some near future date. Orders that on
ly I can countermand. When you’re finished, I will watch a video of our session to make sure you haven’t tried any deception. But even if you’re clever enough to deceive me, unless everything goes exactly the way I want it to, I won’t countermand the order.”
He paused to let this sink in. “If, on the other hand, you do as you’ve agreed—nothing more and nothing less—I shall make the call to spare your family. Everyone will be happy.”
He stared at her intently. “So now, under these circumstances, will you do what I’ve asked, and only what I’ve asked? No deceptions?”
Alyssa nodded. “I wouldn’t have tried any tricks, even without your threats. Especially since I believe that Bren is right. This may well end up helping you. Helping all of us.” She paused. “Besides, there are no tricks. Hypnotism can only work if the subject wants it to work. I can’t plant any suggestions in your mind that you don’t want to be there.”
Al Yad turned to Aziz once again, who nodded vigorously. Everything she had said during the entire session had been the truth.
Outstanding! thought Al Yad once again.
He had Alyssa tell him what she would need to carry out the procedure, and the dose she planned to use on him, and then thanked her for her cooperation and called a guard to escort her to her quarters. She could bathe and relax while he used underlings as guinea pigs and made other preparations.
When she left, he turned one last time to Aziz. “Good work,” he said. “You have served me well. I only wish you hadn’t heard some of the things you did.” He shook his head sadly. “But rest assured, Aziz, I shall see to it that your family is well taken care of.”
And with that, the bald polygraph expert seized up and fell to the floor. Then, with another glance from Al Yad, Aziz’s body disintegrated into its constituent atoms, and no trace remained that he had ever existed.
56
Only six hours later Al Yad was ready. He had waited a very long time for this opportunity, and he wasn’t going to wait a second longer than necessary.
Quantum Lens Page 30
