“There are thirty translucent conduits that . . . allowing ions to flow back and forth.”
“Among the conduits,” Dr. Josef said.
“Is an access door . . .”
“Leading . . .”
“To the lava source below,” Dr. Rosa concluded.
“We have closed . . .”
“The conduits.”
“No ions are . . .”
“Currently flowing.”
“Which is the strange part of all this,” said Chetan. “With the flow of ions stopped, there is no reason all this chaos should be happening.”
“There’s no way we’re going to get down there with the tube swaying like that,” Valerie said. “It’s like the pendulum on a grandfather clock!”
Suddenly, Sylvia’s look of alarm changed. “I’m picking up another strange reading from the south of England.”
“What kind of reading?” Valerie asked.
“Not really sure. It’s up in the four-hundred-thirty-two-hertz range, but I’m having a tough time isolating it. Whatever it is, it’s creating a massive standing wave that is spreading very quickly. It will hit you guys in three point four seconds.”
“Any idea if this is going to be good or bad?” Valerie asked.
“No idea,” Sylvia replied.
Everyone waited silently, anticipating whatever was about to hit them. To their surprise, the electrical discharges seemed to dissipate, and the shaking lessened.
“Look at the tube,” Chetan said. “It’s not swinging as much.”
“This might be our only shot to get down there,” Valerie said.
Logan looked at the doctors. “Do you have any more of those nanites lying around?”
57
Have you ever looked at yourself through someone else’s eyes? How confident are you that you will like what you see?
—THE CHRONICLES OF SATRAYA
NOVACON ISLAND, 3:16 P.M. LOCAL TIME, MARCH 26, 2070
Logan wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“We have fourteen minutes before Black Star is activated.” Chetan’s voice came through Valerie’s PCD.
Valerie led the way down the fifty-meter access tube to the inner chamber of the radioactive core. Logan followed, his backpack slung over his shoulder. They descended a spiral stairway winding around the inner wall. As they descended, they could see the lead shielding of the nuclear core. The swaying of the tube, caused by the instability of the NovaCon pyramid device, slowed their descent.
“Is the standing wave still hitting us?” Valerie asked.
“Yes,” Chetan answered. “Sylvia says it’s still present.”
“Let’s hope it stays that way until we can get these nanites deployed.” Valerie stepped off the stairs onto a metal lattice platform. Logan stood next to her. Cabinets and locked supply boxes lined the wall.
“The doctors say that you have to crawl under the lead shielding to gain access to the hatch,” Chetan said. “Once you have the hatch open, activate the seventy-nine point six-five-seven signal by pressing the button on the device the doctors gave you. The moment the signal is on, you need to drop the nanites into the lava and then close the hatch.”
“Did they say to crawl under this thing?” Logan asked, staring at the massive nuclear core only about a half meter above the platform.
Valerie dropped to her knees and looked underneath it. Logan did the same. The core was held in place by thirty of the translucent glass tubes, which the doctors had described, each a quarter meter in diameter. At the center, Logan and Valerie saw a small blinking red light. “That must be the door,” Valerie said.
“The doctors say that those support tubes are what allows the radiation from the core to interact with the heat from the lava,” Chetan said. “They are closed right now, but they are still very hot. You will have to make your way around them to get to the center where the hatch is located.”
“It’s like a rat’s maze,” Logan said, trying to make out a clear path.
“Hand me the nanites and the switch,” Valerie said. “I’ll crawl under.”
“I’ll do it,” Logan said. He put his backpack on the metal platform, unzipped it, and removed the glass vial containing the nanites and a small activation switch that the doctors had given him. He put both items in his shirt pocket. “You keep an eye on this,” he said, handing Valerie his backpack.
She grunted as she swung it over her shoulders. “What the heck do you have in here? Rocks?”
“Just all my important stuff,” Logan said, lowering himself to the floor and crawling under the core.
“The doctors say there is a silver handle that will open the hatch,” Logan heard Chetan say through Valerie’s PCD.
He maneuvered his way toward the center. His right knee hit one of the heat tubes. “Son of a—” he yelled. “The doctors weren’t kidding. These tubes are hot.”
“The doctors say that you will have to watch out for the initial blast of heat when you open the hatch,” Chetan said.
Logan methodically made his way around the heat tubes, taking great care not to touch them.
“How’s it going?” Valerie called out. “Not to add any pressure, but we have about nine minutes before Black Star is activated.”
“I’m almost at the hatch now,” Logan said. He was about to grab the hatch’s silver handle when Valerie called out again.
“Logan!” She was whispering. Logan paused and looked back, maneuvering so that he could see her through the jumble of heat tubes. “Someone is coming down here. Hold still, and don’t make a sound.”
Logan watched as Valerie stood. The only thing he could see now was her legs as she made her way to the other side of the platform. Logan heard a clanking as someone descended the spiral staircase, every step echoing. The core continued to sway slightly back and forth.
“Hello, Agent Perrot, Mr. Ford,” said a voice Logan did not recognize. “I know the two of you are down here. Mr. Hitchlords doesn’t want to see either of you die on this island. He insisted that I fetch the two of you to safety.”
Logan watched as a pair of feet stepped onto the platform from the stairs.
“Don’t you want to see your children again, Mr. Ford? I have come to take you to them.”
Valerie popped her head down. Her index finger was pressed to her lips, indicating that Logan should remain still. He watched as Valerie walked away from the core and took a position near a large metal cabinet.
“There you are, Mr. Ford,” the voice said.
Logan now saw Rashidi squatting down and peering under the core. He was holding Valerie’s gun. “Now, how about you come out of there by your own free will? No? Well, we can do it without the free will, too, if you’d like.”
Logan remained silent, waiting, watching the gun take aim. Suddenly, there was a shot, and he flinched but felt no injury. Another followed and echoed in the core. Logan heard the bullets ricochet.
“I am not in the mood to play around,” Rashidi said. “I was hoping we could do this the easy way.”
Logan watched as Rashidi walked a few steps away. He heard the squeak of a door being opened, followed by a loud humming, as the translucent heating columns surrounding him began to glow. The NovaCon device started rumbling again, and the swaying of the core increased. Rashidi squatted back down. “I’ve bypassed the controls and opened the conduits. I would suggest that you and Ms. Perrot come out right now, or those tubes will burn you alive.” Rashidi angled for a better look. “Where is she, by the way?”
“Right here!” Logan heard Valerie say, as she pressed her new gun to Rashidi’s head. “I’d like my gun back, please,” she said, as she took it from Rashidi’s hand. But there was a sudden swaying of the core, and Valerie was knocked off balance, giving Rashidi the advantage. Logan watched as the two of them wrestled, rolling back and forth on the platform. “Logan!” Valerie gasped. “Drop the nanites! Hurry!”
Logan took hold of the silver handle on the hatch and pulled. He turned away as an inten
se wave of heat burst out of the hatch. He pulled the vial and the small activation device from his pocket. He pressed the button on the device, as the doctors had instructed. Logan could see the nanites beginning to move in the vial; they’d been activated. He wasted no time, dropped the nanites into the hatch, and closed the door. Two shots rang out. Logan looked back frantically and saw Valerie on the ground, with Rashidi on top of her.
“Valerie!” Logan yelled. A series of sonic booms shook the core violently.
58
On the floor of an acclaimed artist’s studio lie the tattered canvases of failed attempts.
—THE CHRONICLES OF SATRAYA
AMESBURY, U.K., 4:20 P.M. LOCAL TIME, MARCH 26, 2070
Britney watched from afar as Anita continued to strike the tuning fork and place it next to Sumsari’s resonator. The sound it generated seemed to quell the violent lightning strikes and the quaking of the ground. All of the Druids had escaped the circle of stones now, but a few remained just outside it, chanting and kneeling on the ground next to the burned, dead bodies of their friends. Sirens could be heard in the distance.
Suddenly, more electrical arcs filled the sky, and the rumbling grew louder.
“Oh, no!” Britney cried, as she started to run toward the center of Stonehenge and Anita. One of the megalithic stones close to where Anita was kneeling cracked down the center. Half of the massive stone teetered. Anita scurried out of the way as it toppled, but the resonator slipped from her hand. The Rokmar harmonic instantly stopped. Another series of lightning bolts rent the sky. People started screaming again. Britney quickened her pace, determined to help her friend. She was relieved when she saw Anita stand up. “Anita, get out of there!” she shouted. But Anita remained by the toppled stone, walking around it, looking at the ground. “Leave the resonator!” Britney screamed. “Just get out of there!”
A series of sonic booms erupted, throwing Britney down. She looked up in time to see a massive electrical arc striking the center of Stonehenge and her best friend illuminated in a brilliant flash of light.
59
Bending an accepted truth is the only way to evolve.
—THE CHRONICLES OF SATRAYA
NOVACON ISLAND, 3:28 P.M. LOCAL TIME, MARCH 26, 2070
“Two minutes until the Black Star strike!” Chetan yelled. The rumbling continued as Logan and Valerie reentered the control center. “What happened down there?” he asked them frantically.
“Why did you . . .” Dr. Josef said.
“Reopen the conduit?” Dr. Rosa asked.
“We didn’t,” replied Valerie, whose right elbow was bleeding.
“Rashidi showed up,” Logan said, setting his backpack down and marching over to the doctors. “He opened the core.”
“We are trying . . .” Dr. Josef said.
“To close the core,” Dr. Rosa finished.
“You guys have to get that device under control!” Sylvia yelled from the HoloPad. “That standing wave from the south of England is gone. The energy readings are off the charts again.”
“That rogue signal stopped almost at the same moment the conduits were opened and the charged ions were exposed to the lava,” Chetan said.
“Can you close and isolate the nuclear core from here?”
The doctors began to manipulate the controls on a nearby controls panel. “The core . . .” Dr. Josef said.
“Is now closed,” Dr. Rosa said.
“Are the nanites working?” Valerie asked.
“Yes,” the doctors said in unison. A projection of the lava flowing below the core was displayed. Logan and Valerie saw the familiar ash-like substance begin to appear.
“The nanites are . . .”
“Functioning.”
The sparkling increased as the nanites multiplied. Dark spots appeared on the lava’s surface. An indicator displayed that the temperature of the core was falling.
“I think it’s working,” Valerie said. “Do you detect any changes?”
“Yes,” Sylvia replied. “It looks like the energy spikes are coming down. I am starting to get a steady reading on the Schumann resonance once again.”
“The core . . .” Dr. Josef said.
“Is cooling,” Dr. Rosa said.
On the projection, Logan and Valerie could see a dark crust forming on the surface of the lava. There were thin red veins in it, but soon they disappeared.
“The device . . .” Dr. Josef said.
“Is stable,” Dr. Rosa added.
Valerie looked at the projection of Sylvia. “Tell Director Sully to call off Black Star right now!”
“Message already sent,” Sylvia said. “The satellites have backed down.”
“The energy collector is at two hundred thousand megawatts!” Chetan exclaimed.
“Madu did it,” Logan said.
“The harmonic . . .” Dr. Josef said.
“Is correct,” Dr. Rosa added.
They both turned to Logan, saying in unison, “You must turn off the nanites. Otherwise, a vacuum will form.”
“The pyramid, along with everyone in it . . .”
“Will be sucked into the earth.”
“There’s already a high vacuum starting to form,” Chetan said, looking at a display. “Same kind as we saw back at the lab.”
Logan pulled the device from his pocket and pressed the button, deactivating the signal.
60
A king will never provide a solution.
In order to keep his power, he will only tell the people what is wrong and who is to blame.
Listen instead to the one who says that you are the only solution you will ever need.
—THE CHRONICLES OF SATRAYA
THE AZORES, 5:08 P.M. LOCAL TIME, MARCH 26, 2070
Logan, Valerie, and Chetan emerged from the lava tunnel with the two doctors. They made their way through the dilapidated visitors center and walked out the main door. Rigel and some of his men were waiting there.
“We thought we’d lost you along with the whole island,” Rigel said. “Even underwater, Nemo almost didn’t make it. Massive destruction has been reported all around the world. Scores of people were struck down in the global lightning storms. I would imagine that many government officials are looking for answers. Including your own,” he added, glancing at Valerie.
“We’ll deal with that when we get back to Washington,” she said.
Logan was still anxious, though. He looked at the employees of NovaCon who had made it out of the pyramid, Mr. Pastor among them.
“Don’t worry,” Valerie reassured him. “Simon won’t hurt the kids as long as he doesn’t have the books. We’ll get them back.”
Rigel looked at the doctors, who were holding their hands in front of their faces, trying to shield themselves from the bright sunlight. “Who are they?” he asked.
“They built the device,” Valerie said. “She’s Dr. Rosa, and he’s Dr. Josef.”
Rigel looked at the implants at the backs of the doctors’ necks. “The two of you have a great deal to answer for. Many people have died because of what you constructed.”
“We only did . . .” Dr. Josef said.
“What we were told,” Dr. Rosa said.
“One day, you might learn that your souls are in your own keeping,” Logan said, perturbed by their response.
The doctors looked at each other and then back at Logan.
“We don’t believe . . .” Dr. Josef said.
“In souls,” Dr. Rosa finished.
Valerie shook her head. Clearly, the doctors’ sense of morality was not on par with their intelligence. She turned back to Rigel. “Did you see anyone leave the island? Simon, Catherine, and Nadine fled just as everything started to shake.”
“No,” Rigel said. “But we were submerged until a half hour ago. We couldn’t risk resurfacing during the earthquakes.” He looked over at Mount Pico and the NovaCon pyramid at its base. “What’s the plan for the energy device? I’d be more than happy to take it off your hands,�
�� he added with a smile.
“Yes, yes!” the doctors said in unison.
“We are certain . . .” Dr. Josef said.
“We could make it work,” Dr. Rosa said.
“Your friend, Madu . . .”
“Was of great help.”
“When we left the device, it was generating more than two hundred thousand megawatts,” Chetan said. “Tesla’s theory of free energy is now a reality.”
“If we could actually fine-tune the device,” Rigel said, “we could supply energy to the world for a thousand years.”
“Even . . .” Dr. Josef said.
“Longer,” Dr. Rosa added.
“But who would ensure that it is accessible to all of humanity?” Logan asked. “Will any of you be alive in a thousand years? No. Now I understand why the pyramids fell into ruin and why their secrets were guarded so closely. Are you two worthy of such a device?” Logan said to the doctors. “What about you, Rigel? Would you have the courage to keep it free, despite your investors’ desire to control it exclusively? Could you be the one man whom absolute power does not absolutely corrupt? No, this pyramid needs to go the way of all the other pyramids in history.” Logan swung his backpack off his shoulder and pulled out the small activation device.
“All our work . . .” Dr. Josef said.
“Will be lost,” Dr. Rosa added.
“Then let it be lost,” Logan said, flipping the switch and turning the nanites back on.
Within moments, a rumbling sound filled the air, and boulders began to roll down the quaking volcano. The doctors looked on helplessly as the nanites acted on the NovaCon energy device. Smoke rose around the pyramid, its shiny façades bending and contorting. The rumbling grew louder, until suddenly, a column of lava shot high into the air, and molten rock and rock fragments crashed down in all directions. Everyone but Logan wondered if he had done the right thing.
Valerie received a message on her PCD. She turned to Logan. “A WCF plane with my father and Madu is en route to Lisbon,” she said. “It will be ready to take us anywhere we want to go.”
Logan’s PCD rang, too. But his face darkened when he saw that he’d received a message from Simon.
Journey Through the Mirrors Page 38
