“It’s a long story,” Jonathan continued. “I’ll send over a report and research. The short version is he’s affiliated with the Shan Chu, from the incident in Mexico. He was an employee of the company that built the biomes and bunkers for Project Swiss Mountain. We think he may have put in a back door to the project. Find him and you might be able to get the bunkers back. You might even find how they hacked the power stations.”
Lucy sighed heavily, some of her burden escaping through her lips. They finally had a lead. “Thank you, Jonathan. Great work.”
Jonathan shook his head. “Not me, Madam President. This was all Freya.”
The president turned her gaze to her long-time associate who now looked thin and frail in her wheelchair. Lucy knew Freya Nilsson may appear beaten, but she would be a force to be reckoned with right to the end. “Thank you, Freya.”
Freya simply nodded.
“And the orb, Jonathan?” Lucy pressed, hoping to ride the wave of good news.
“It arrived safely with us. Dr Brown is about to take it to the site. But... I’d like to ask permission for Freya to go with him. She’s got the most experience with these things than anyone—”
Lucy gave a curt nod. “Granted. A security detail from Alpha Base goes with them.”
“Agreed,” Jonathan said.
“And you?”
“I’m going to find KJ and Nikolaj,” Teller replied resolutely. “As instructed. Every other base is covered. I’m no extra help here. And something tells me KJ has sniffed something out.”
Lucy looked to the Admiral.
“I concur, Teller,” the admiral said.
“Thank you, sir,” Jonathan replied.
“Jonathan ...” the words stuck in Lucy’s throat. “Good luck.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
The video call clicked off.
Lucy turned to Waltham. “We need to find Sagane. Now. He may be our best lead.”
Jim nodded. “We’ll root this bastard out.”
“Good. Oh and, Jim, once you have him find out if he knows of any other hack. Something tells me it’s not just the stations and the bunkers.”
Jim dipped his head in acknowledgment and left Lucy to her thoughts.
Lucy eyed the room for the thousandth time. Despite all the technology and expertise filling that one chamber, she felt horribly ill-equipped to deal with the situation. The world had been slow to understand the value of the Huahuqui—squabbling more over who should work with them, or how could their existence be monetized. By comparison the Nine Veils had decided a long time ago the creatures’ worth and now were executing a plan so long in the making it was terrifying to think on how it would all end.
Location: Alpha Base, Antarctica
Jonathan stuffed his backpack with the final few items he may need and then secured it with the fasteners. The table in the prep room was littered with an assortment of weapons. He picked up the surprisingly light HK416 fully automatic rifle with an EOTech optic, a sound/flash suppressor, and an AN/PEQ-2. All purpose, night and day. He checked the action and the magazine, then placed it back on the table. The Glock 19 with M-6 laser light and a Duane Dieter’s Master of Defense CQD knife slipped into the holsters strapped to his thighs. Finally, a multiband Inter/Intra Team Radio for communication between him and his team in the field—his team. This time, Teller knew with whom he was working, because he’d called in the cavalry.
Tony Franco had arrived a few hours earlier. Franco had left Teller’s squad after the incident in Antarctica to head up his own private security team, often used by the CIA in Syria. He and Teller had remained firm friends, and he was one of the few people with whom Jonathan could talk about everything. When he wasn’t chauffeuring important people around the war-torn country, Tony would visit and have dinner with Freya and the family. More importantly, he was like an uncle to KJ and Nikolaj. Teller trusted him with their lives.
Then of course, there was Matthew Lauder. Not one of Teller’s original team, but the soldier who had rescued Freya in Somalia and helped get them to Madagascar, and eventually La Reunion. Without him she would have died at the hands of local militants, organized by the Nine Veils. Whether it was fate or Lauder’s own request was never clear, but he ended up doing several tours of duty at Alpha Base. He felt an allegiance to Freya and the boys, and that worked for Teller. It just so happened, he was now stationed in South East Asia. He would meet Teller at the rendezvous point in Laos.
“You okay?” Freya wheeled into the room, Dacey at her side.
“Yeah, I’m good. All packed. We head out in an hour.”
Freya inhaled deeply. “You have any idea where the boys were going?”
“No, but they are smart kids. If they had a direction, then we’ll be able to figure it out. Tony’s one of the best trackers I know. He’ll pick up their trail.” It wasn’t a total lie. Tony was a great tracker, but the trail was probably long since cold. “And we’ll have a couple Huahuqui with us, that’ll help. Anyway, are you all set to head out with Dr Brown?”
Freya rolled her eyes. “Yeah, the transport is ready. They are rigging some gear to get me to the base of this site. Apparently, it’s not wheelchair friendly.”
They both laughed nervously.
“Hey, if the world goes... you know ...” Teller started.
Freya grabbed his hand. “I know,” she said and kissed his fingers. “You’re a good man, Jonathan Teller.”
Teller tightened his lips and swallowed the stone in his throat.
“Boss?” came a voice from the doorway.
“Tony!” Freya said and wheeled over.
Franco hugged her.
“We ready to go?” Teller asked.
Tony nodded. “Yeah, the boys are loaded up. Though I’m not crazy about taking such a large civilian contingent.”
Teller slapped his friend’s shoulder. “The Huahuqui are going to be our best chance of finding the boys and their companions. They stay with us, in our protection. Just a couple.”
“A couple? You sure about that?”
“What do you mean?” Freya interrupted.
“Have you been to Biome One?” Franco asked, already turning to the door.
Freya wheeled after him. Teller rubbed Dacey’s nose, slung his pack, and brought up the rear. The friends headed to the elevator that would take them up to Biome One and the main exit.
The doors to the elevator slid open. The noise in the foyer was deafening. Hundreds of Stratum filling the entire space talking among themselves. Pink and blue gills of the Huahuqui bobbed and quivered as they padded and pranced about. The young men and women, none older than thirty, packed the chairs, benches, and sofas. At least half were carrying gear—backpacks and equipment—as if they were about to embark on an adventure holiday. The room quickly grew silent at Teller’s entrance.
“What’s going on?” Teller asked to no one in particular.
“The time is coming, and we must make a stand,” came a voice from within the crowd.
“The time for what?” Freya asked.
“The setting of the Fifth Sun,” said another.
Teller couldn’t tell from whom the voices were coming. “You think the end time is coming?”
“It has already started,” came a third voice.
Teller dropped his pack and rubbed his face in exasperation. “Okay, I don’t know what is going on, but can someone take the lead here. Kinda weird talking to no-one.”
A faint blue haze grew around the Stratum.
“We are one,” said a chorus of voices in Teller’s head.
Freya shot a look at him and then Franco.
“Yeah, I heard it,” Teller said.
“Without Kelly Junior, they’re relying on their hive mind,” Freya said.
Teller redirected his attention to the Stratum. “What do you want?”
“To help. To bring an end to the Fifth Sun and usher in the Sixth with as little bloodshed as possible. It is our fate, our destiny and our
responsibility.” Their metallic voices in unison were choir-like, musical.
“I can’t let you come with me,” Teller said. “I can’t risk you all.”
“We are already at risk. All life on this planet is at risk.”
“Sorry, guys,” Teller said picking up his pack again and walking toward the loading bay. “Another time.”
Teller’s legs stopped working and he froze in place. He turned to the Stratum whose blue haze had now become an intense cerulean glow encompassing all of them.
“We could make you, Jonathan Teller. But we would rather have co-operation.”
Teller’s eyes widened, his stare moving to Freya who sat, taut and frustrated.
“Half of us will go with you to find Kelly Junior and our companions. They were looking for our lost brethren. They need our help now.”
“They were looking for your lost brethren,” Freya said. “They got a lead on the Nine Veils? On the other Huahuqui!”
“Half will go with you, Jonathan Teller. Half will remain here with Freya Teller and Doctor Brown.”
“The orb,” Teller said in realization. “They know about the orb.”
“Jonathan,” Freya said, gliding to him. “You have to let them. This is bigger than all of us. They are the future. They always were.”
Teller relaxed and doing so seemed to be given back control of his limbs. He turned to his wife. “I don’t have a choice in this, do I?”
Freya glanced at Dacey, then the Stratum and back to Teller. “No, I don’t think you do.”
Teller stood and looked to Tony. “We’re gonna need a bigger plane.”
Location: Tocayōtla, Southwest Rice Terraces, China
Svetlana paced the subterranean chamber liked a caged jaguar. She often came down here, into the galleries beneath the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, to think. Away from the prying eyes of her Phalanx, the Doyen, and especially Mother. While she could feel her brethren, the stillness of the galleries calmed her nerves.
She sat on the dirty ground, back to a wall and Ribka at her side, fingering one of the hundreds of metallized spheres strewn about. She had no idea what these little balls were for. Neither did the Doyen, but he was insistent on everything being recreated just as it was in Mexico. In fact, he’d imported the actual artifacts at great cost: from spiral seashells, cat bones, wooden masks covered with inlaid rock jade and quartz, elaborate necklaces, rings, and even greenstone crocodile teeth. Perhaps the most impressive was the miniature mountainous landscape, sat in the middle of the room, complete with tiny pools of liquid mercury representing lakes.
Svetlana examined the walls and ceiling, impregnated with mineral powder comprising magnetite, pyrite and hematite. They shimmered and glittered as if she were outside, sitting under the stars. But she wasn’t. She was in here again, doubting everything; herself and her purpose. The Doyen had shown her. Made her understand the divine plan. One that was not even of his making; instead he simply accepted it and worked tirelessly to ensure it manifested as it was supposed to. Yet, the moment she saw him—Kelly Junior Graham, according to Mother—her mind and will seemed, once again, not to be hers.
The prisoners now languished in a building at the end of the Avenue of the Dead. Why were they here? Had they tracked her all the way to China because she’d attempted to assassinate the president? If they’d tracked her, then why hadn’t the full force of the US military come with them? There were too many questions, and too few answers. And to make it worse, now they were inside the interference field, they were constantly in her mind. Especially Kelly Junior. His chi was a relentless nag in the back of her consciousness, an infected splinter that refused to be dug out. Why him? Why this man? she thought.
Svetlana clambered to her feet and tossed the ball back to the dirt, a renewed energy coursing through her at the thought of obtaining resolution. With Ribka in tow, she stormed the long corridor, climbed the makeshift ladder, and nearly exploded from the entrance out into the night air. Under a starry sky unpolluted by city lights, Svetlana stomped with purpose toward the prisoner compound, nearly bowling Nyalku over. She ignored his complaints and continued toward the prison.
A quick conversation with the guards, and Svetlana slipped into the building.
Behind narrowly spaced steel bars, strangely anachronistic with the ancient Mexican replica structure, sat the prisoners. Much like her own Phalanx, each human had a Huahuqui with them, huddled in a ball or curled around a leg. All except the woman who’d been carrying the camera equipment. She seemed to be alone.
“Svetlana,” came a voice from the cage. It was Kelly Junior.
She eyed him carefully, probing his mind, but he seemed able to block her attempt at extracting detailed thoughts. “How do you know me, Kelly Graham Junior?”
The young man stood and took a few paces toward her, his fingers slipping around the bars. “That’s a long story,” he said with a half-smile plastered over his face.
He looked smug. Svetlana already didn’t like him. “Tell me,” she said through gnashed teeth.
Ribka warbled in agreement.
“You can probe my head all you want, I’m not giving up anything for free.” He sauntered to the back of the cage and plonked himself next to a Huahuqui.
“I could make you. You are not strong enough against our Phalanx,” Svetlana said.
“Phalanx? Phalanx?” KJ said, feigning a search of his brain for the word. “Nikolaj, isn’t that the thing that dangles at the back of your throat?”
“You,” Svetlana said, pointing at Nikolaj. “Tell me how you know me.”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with Junior,” Nikolaj said. “We’ll tell you anything you wish to know, but you have to tell us things too.”
Svetlana considered the proposal for a moment. Revealing the greater plan was not an issue, since it was the universe’s plan. Whether or not they knew of it, it could not be stopped. And besides, Mother would soon have control of them. They may have been too old to be trained as she was, but Mother’s serum, the one she’d been working on, that would make them see the truth of the Nine Veils. “Fine,” she said, finally.
Kelly leapt to his feet. “Who’s the British witch you’re hanging with?” he blurted out.
“I actually had bigger questions, Junior,” Nikolaj interjected.
“Her name is Victoria McKenzie,” Svetlana replied. “She’s the Doyen’s right hand. One of the first humans to encounter the Huahuqui. One of the first to be blended with the Huahuqui. She carries their DNA.”
“Holy shit,” Catherine said. “I heard about her. The original science team spliced in genes. Helped her regrow limbs. She went a little bat shit.”
“And killed my dad, it would seem,” Kelly Junior said, though quietly.
“I would not know such things,” Svetlana answered. “Now, how do you know me? Why are you in my head?”
“We were friends once,” Nikolaj said, approaching the bars, his black-gilled Huahuqui accompanying him. “This is Chernoukh. Do you really not remember?”
Svetlana stared at the blond man and his oddly colored companion, struggling to draw some ancient memory from the depths of her mind. But nothing would come. “I don’t know you.”
“Yes, you do,” Kelly said, rising again. “You are Nenets, a wanderer, born in Siberia. A sink hole opened nearly twenty years ago near your village. Inside were hundreds of Huahuqui. One of them found you. Ribka, little fish.” He pointed to her Huahuqui. “All the children of your village were bonded to a Huahuqui. The Nine Veils tried to kidnap you all. My mom, and his mom,” he nodded to Nikolaj, “they saved you, at least for a while. Don’t you remember? We had to fly to Africa, and then to Madagascar and we took a boat—but it was attacked. It went down.”
Pain stabbed Svetlana in the front of her brain. A flash of white blinded her momentarily. She stumbled a little, her legs weak. “I... I... don’t ...”
“My mom died that night,” Nikolaj pressed, his eyes ful
l with sadness. “But Kelly Junior’s mom, with the help of others got us all to Antarctica.”
Another stab, worse than last time, knocked her to her ass. She clasped at her head. There were no memories, only flashes of white and sharp, hot pain in her brain tissue.
“But they came for us,” Kelly Junior pressed. “The Nine Veils. My mom couldn’t stop them all. They took you and Ribka and half the children and their Huahuqui.”
“I ... don’t remember that... I don’t remember anything... there is only the Phalanx,” she moaned, grasping at her black hair.
“No, there is us,” KJ said. “We came for you, Svetlana. We came for all of you. Not NATO, or Alpha Base, us. Because no-one knows what it is to be Stratum but us.”
“But we are not Stratum,” came a male voice. “We are Phalanx.”
Svetlana looked up to see Nyalku standing over her. He stretched out a hand. She grabbed his wrist and allowed herself to be pulled up.
“What are the Nine Veils planning?” Nikolaj called after her. “Why the shootings, why the power stations? What are you doing?” His voice faded as Nyalku took her by the arm and escorted her away.
“Why did you go to them?” Nyalku asked. “This was not a good idea. If Mother finds out—”
Svetlana wasn’t listening. Her mind was swamped with another voice. Kelly Junior’s voice.
“We were friends, Svetlana, you and I. You must remember. I’m coming for you. I promise.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Location: Alpha Base, Antarctica
Koa scratched his head. Of course, he’d read about the orbs, but that information was squeezed from the minds of those who had come into contact with one some twenty years ago. According to released files by the NSA, the original research from the 1960s had been destroyed following the fallout of the Huahuqui cloning program.
He stared at it again, floating in its glass box, pulsating with blue-green light. Alive. Probably full of knowledge he could never unlock. Normally, there would be time to investigate. To study and learn. But now was anything but normal. They were out of time.
“Finished staring at it?” came a voice over his shoulder.
Rubicon Page 16
