Song of Ariel: A Blue Light Thriller (Book 2) (Blue Light Series)

by Mark Edward Hall

  “I think that’s a stretch,” said Jennings.

  “Maybe so, but you didn’t hear what Ariel said. I know the Collector is from some other place or time, and I also know that Annie and Ariel are here because the collector needed them. Hell, maybe that’s the reason I’m here too.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Doug.”

  Doug sighed in frustration. “You’ve known me since I was a boy. You know what I’ve been through. You’ve been through it with me. And you’re still in denial.” He held up the flash drive. “What if there’s some information on this thing that could help us? Maybe that’s why it was left there for me to find.”

  “Only one way to find out,” Jason said. “Anybody here have a laptop?”

  “There’s one in the control room,” Doug said. “Let’s go plug it in.”

  CHAPTER 32

  Beneath the ice Caves. Northern Maine Wilderness. July 6th.

  Nadia knew the lay of the land down here. She’d been studying this site for as long as Doug had been here. The detailed maps they’d made of Doug’s movements were ingrained deep in her psyche. She’d always known where Doug was, of course. She had inserted a tracking device in his pectoral muscle on the night she left him to fend for himself in that Kentucky estate. It’s the reason she had drugged him. Her only regret was in taking advantage of him while he was at his most vulnerable. What she’d done had been totally crazy, the breaking of a cardinal rule. True, they had been lovers as teenagers, but that did not give her the right to do what she did. It did not give her the right to love him forever.

  In college Doug had met Annie and he’d forgotten about Nadia. And though later Nadia had come to understand why things had to be the way they were, she had never been able to forget about the first and only love of her life. When the World Trade Center had come crashing down around her, the Nadia of Doug’s youth had ceased to exist. She’d been saved, rebuilt and reprogrammed in preparation for her new life on the fringes of society. She owed the Brotherhood a great debt for saving her and literally bringing her back from the abyss. Years later, when the truth about Doug and his past, and his possible future had come to light, she had fought hard for the assignment, promising that above all, she would be professional. I know him. I’m the only one who understands him well enough to guide him. I’m not the same person I was before. He’ll never know who I really am.

  Yeah, sure. You can reconstruct a body. You can even reconstruct a mind. It’s much more difficult to reconstruct what’s in the heart. The heart wants what it wants. And in her heart Nadia had known she could never keep such a promise. Lies. All lies. The more time she spent with Doug, the deeper she fell, and the harder it became to maintain the level of professionalism required to do the job she’d promised to do. When she felt she could no longer trust herself, she got out.

  Nadia had no reason to believe Doug might ever love her again. How could he? He didn’t know her now; he didn’t know the woman she had become, reconstructed and reprogrammed like some freaking cyborg. Besides, Doug was in love with Annie. He’d talked at length about Annie and his obsession with her during those months in Nadia’s care. It was more than enough to make Nadia crazy with hate and jealousy. Doug hadn’t had a clue about Nadia’s deceit until the moment she confessed and then drugged him on the night she walked out of his life. It had been the greatest deception in the history of deceit.

  Though she had deceived him, she hadn’t lied to him. Not for a moment. She’d told him the truth that night; she loved him. She’d always loved him, and always would.

  In the years since that fateful night she had fanatically tracked Doug’s every move. Not just because it was her job; but more because he was her obsession. And when the time came, it was Nadia they chose to complete the Brotherhood’s final and most important assignment. Who else were they going to choose? Nobody knew Doug better than Nadia. She accepted the assignment gratefully. She was an obedient soldier, after all.

  As she moved steadily downward, through shafts of underground wonders, her only hope was that the amazing place beneath her would finally give up its secrets. Through a history of Doug’s movements, she and her people had been able to map every inch of these caves. Her particular interest, however, was in the immense cavern far underground, a place that defied all the known laws of physics. She’d been lulled by the cavern’s low frequency hum while the Brotherhood’s most brilliant scientists had tried to decipher its purpose. To no avail. Its frequency was as constant as any frequency ever detected in the universe. They were also aware of the enormous shaft of Blue Light beneath the caverns, and long ago had theorized a connection between the two phenomena. The site had been scanned with ground penetrating radar and 3D laser scanning technology, in hopes of discovering its properties and purpose. To no avail. It would not give up its secrets. There was only one way to do that; go there and view it. Photograph it. Take samples for later analysis.

  But Nadia’s purpose here was not one of physical discovery. Her hope was for some sort of transcendence. If she died trying, then that was okay. Nadia was not afraid of death. She’d stared death in the face many times and had always come back from it. If death finally found her here in this amazing place then so be it. She could think of worse places to die. She was tired, she was depressed, and she was ready to die.

  As the terrain began to flatten out Nadia stepped out onto a smooth plain high above a great cavernous bowl, a place so beautiful and mysterious it boggled the mind. The distance was so great she could not see its end. There did not seem to be a roof above her, just wispy clouds of indigo scudding across a stunning lapis lazuli sky. She stood drinking in the wonders. It was everything she’d dreamed it would be. Her fall, her transformation, her rebirth. It was all okay now, for it had brought her to this place and time. In that moment nothing else mattered. Nadia walked on until she reached the edge of a precipice above a great spiral staircase. She ventured a glance down but could not see a bottom, just the staircase as it spiraled like a cosmic corkscrew into infinity. She reached in her pocket and extracted a sat phone, opened the cover and began typing. When she was through she hit send and re-pocketed the phone. She stood for another long moment drinking in the wonders before placing a foot on the top step to begin her journey to the bottom, one careful step at a time, down, down, down, toward her destiny.

  CHAPTER 33

  Somewhere above the Northern Maine Wilderness. July 6th.

  Spencer leaned to his left a little to see past the silent woman sitting beside him on the bench seat. The sky, for as far as he could see was filled with Blackhawk Helicopters. Five hundred feet below them the wilderness sped past at 150 miles an hour. In the troop-hold behind Spencer and his female companion sat a dozen soldiers in full battle gear, all ready and eager to ply their trade.

  Spencer spoke into his mic. “How far out are we?” he asked the pilot.

  “About twenty clicks.”

  “Have they made the hole yet?”

  “Not yet, sir. It’s coming.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Put me through to command.”

  “Sir?”

  “You heard me.”

  There was a click in Spencer’s earphones and a voice said, “This is Jonas.”

  “We need those drones now!” Spencer barked into his mike.

  “They’re almost in position, sir.”

  “What the hell’s taking so long?”

  “Five minutes tops. This needs to be done right and positioning is everything.”

  “Hear me well, Jonas. I do not want any screw-ups. Make sure those drones are targeted correctly. Do not—I repeat—DO NOT take out the caves. I want that child unharmed.”

  “There won’t be any screw-ups, sir, I promise you that.”

  “There better not be.”

  Spencer looked over at the woman sitting beside him and frowned, wondering if he could actually trust her and knowing deep in his heart that he couldn’t. She’d been scraped up off De Roché’s lawn four y
ears ago with a bullet in her heart. It was a wound that would have killed any ordinary person. They soon found out that this woman wasn’t ordinary. She had a will to live like no one they’d ever seen. The Project’s medical staff had successfully removed the bullet and nursed her back to health. She had been quite cooperative, and had revealed some very interesting information about her former boss and his associations. In the process, she had demonstrated some rare and useful abilities, stuff she claimed wasn’t there before the gunshot wound. Spencer had good instincts and he did not believe a single word of her bullshit. But there were people way above his paygrade that didn’t care. They wanted to use her, and of course Spencer was just a soldier, just one head on a totem pole, somewhere near the bottom, and he had no choice but to go along.

  Supposedly Angelica was told the government had enough on her to put her away for the rest of her natural life; that the only way she could continue to see the light of day was if she did some contract work for the Project. She had agreed. Her psychic abilities had come in handy, but Spencer had never liked or trusted her. She wasn’t bad looking. That wasn’t it. She was just way too spooky for his tastes.

  “Hold on,” Jonas said. “Shit! You’re not gonna believe this.”

  “Now what?”

  “You’ve got company. We just picked up a ton of bogies on our scopes, and they ain’t friendlies.”

  “Choppers?”

  “Yup. A much larger contingent than the one that delivered the earlier troops. They’re only about an hour behind you guys. Not only that, they’re using some strange com frequency. Can’t pick up anything they’re saying”

  “Christ,” said Spencer. “That means we make the hole and they get in too.”

  “It would seem that way. Unless we can take them out before they get there.”

  “How are we going to do that?”

  “Not enough time for more drone positioning, but I’ll work on it.”

  “Is the mountaintop still surrounded by animals?” Spencer said.

  “The last satellite pass showed the heat signature still in place. Weirdest damn thing I ever saw.”

  “Shit,” Spencer said. “Then there’s no way to remove them without taking out the caves.”

  “Roger that.”

  “We don’t have a lot of time,” Spencer said. “Listen, Jonas, we can’t let that kid fall into the wrong hands.”

  “I hear you,” Jonas said. “Gotta go. Missiles just appeared on the screen. Enjoy the show.”

  “Watch for em,” said the pilot. “Any second now.”

  “Imagine it’ll take a while for the forest to cool down afterward,” Spencer said, still brooding over the choppers that were less than an hour behind them and wondering who sent them.

  “You’d be surprised,” answered the pilot. “Willie Pete burns fast and cools fast. Ordinary forest is no match for that stuff.”

  “What the hell’s Willie Pete?”

  “White phosphorus. Used a lot of it in and around Fallujah when we were trying to drive out the Taliban.” The pilot’s voice took on a wry tone. “Don’t tell anyone, though. It was banned by the international community after Vietnam. But since when did that stop the good old U.S of A? Sure did fuck up the Cong, though.”

  “How does it work?” asked Spencer.

  “Sticks like glue to everything it touches. Burns at an extremely high temperature. Destroys everything in its path, including human bones in a matter of minutes.”

  Spencer felt the woman shudder beside him. He looked over at her. She turned slightly and gave him a little smile. The first one he’d seen the whole trip. He guessed it must have been the bone burning comment that made her twitch. Creepy fucking bitch. He couldn’t wait to get the kid and get rid of her.

  “Besides,” continued the pilot, “makes a lot of smoke which is good cover for getting safely in and out. Here they come! Keep your eye on the horizon, straight ahead.”

  As if out of nowhere a dozen or more smoke trails streaked across the sky and came together in a single location just over the tree tops. The world lit up. To Spencer it was like staring into the sun. A few seconds later the chopper rocked as the pressure wave hit them. A cloud of smoke and debris that resembled the aftermath of a nuclear explosion rose over the forest. The air was still and the mushroom cloud just kept rising, nice and pretty.

  “Jesus,” Spencer breathed.

  “I don’t think even he could have survived that,” said the pilot.

  “How long before we can get in there?”

  “We’ll know in a few minutes. The hole’s big enough for a hundred choppers, that’s for sure. Question is how much and how long will the rest of the forest burn. Hasn’t been any significant rain in weeks.”

  “It better be soon,” Spencer said. “We’ve got company breathing down our necks.

  “Yeah, I know. We’ll do the best we can. At least the wind’s dead calm. That’s the good part. Without wind the fire might not go far.

  “I guess we’ll know soon enough,” Spencer said, settling uneasily back in his seat. The woman beside him continued to stare straight ahead.

  CHAPTER 34

  Ice Caves. Northern Maine Wilderness. July 6th.

  Doug was remembering dreams he’d had long ago of a special child not yet born, of a beautiful race of people that defied comprehension.

  Who are they? Doug asked his young daughter through his dream sleep. He had never felt such awe.

  Someone wonderful, answered the child. They are part of me, I am part of them.

  “Doug, what are you thinking?” It was Jennings and he was staring at Doug with concern.

  “I just remembered something,” he said. “A dream from long ago.”

  “About what?”

  “Me and Ariel.”

  “Do you think it’s important?”

  “I don’t know what’s important anymore.”

  “Don’t you think we ought to see what’s on that drive?”

  “Yeah,” Doug said plugging the flash drive into the computer.

  It was a video. A striking young woman sat looking at a camera. Her hair was light brown, and her eyes were a brilliant blue. Despite her obvious beauty, there were dark circles around her eyes and her face exhibited a wealth of experience that belied her age. Doug stared at the image. There was a familiarity about her that disturbed him a little.

  “I’ll try to be as brief as possible because you don’t have much time,” the young woman said and then paused. “It has been twenty-two standard years since we came through. A lot has happened since. Some I was able to control, some was far beyond my control. We live in a complex universe…” The young woman paused again as if she was unsure how to proceed. She stared at the camera and her eyes seemed to burn into Doug’s. My name is Ariel McArthur. If you’re watching this video then you will soon understand why everything had to happen the way it did.”

  Doug stopped the video.

  “Why’d you do that?” Jennings asked.

  “I have to get Annie. She needs to see this.”

  “You think it really is Ariel?”

  “Yeah, I do,” Doug said, stepping away from the monitor.

  Jason stopped him with a hand on the shoulder. “I think you should get Danielle too,” he said.

  Doug searched Jason’s eyes. They looked both sad and serious. “Why?”

  “I have a feeling she should see it, that’s all.”

  Doug stared into Jason’s eyes a moment longer. Then he turned and left the room.

  In a moment Doug was back with Annie and Danielle. He closed the door and restarted the video from the beginning. When it got to the part where the young woman identified herself, Annie put her hand over her mouth to stifle a sob.

  “Oh, God,” she said. “My baby. Look at you. You’re so beautiful, and your hair isn’t blonde anymore.”

  “Mama and Papa,” the older version of Ariel said. “I know you’re watching this and listening to the things I have to say on t
he afternoon everything changed. You are in the control room with Uncle Rick, Jason and Danielle, while I’m in my room with Danny Wolf working out the code in the song he wrote for me. Please resist the urge to run to me and save me from the inevitable, because it would be futile, and it just might change the course of human history, and not for the better.

  “I need you to trust me. I need you to understand that I did not have a choice as to who accompanied me through the portal. That was predetermined long before I was born. I’m sorry it couldn’t have been you. You see, you needed to be there that day... this day, the day everything went so bad, because if you hadn’t done what you did, then Earth would not have survived. You were part of the great plan.

  “I’m going to go back to the beginning because it’s the only way to make sense of all this, the only way to make you understand.

  “You see, I needed more than the four objects—the three alien artifacts and the tip of the spear that pierced Christ’s ribcage more than two thousand years ago—and make no mistake, it is the object that pierced his side. I also needed the code unwittingly hidden inside Robert Browning’s book of poetry. For our race to move to the next level on the evolutionary scale, all facets of human endeavor must become conscious strivings for art. Browning was not the greatest poet in human history, but he understood the connection between endeavor and art better than most. A life without art is a life without meaning. His work was an essential piece of the puzzle that will ultimately take the human race to the next step in its evolutionary journey—although he lived and died without consciously realizing it.

  Danny Wolf understands the connection better than most. He is in tune with the universe through his musical talent as well as his intimate contact with the Blue Light. You see, music is an essential part of the structure of the universe. It is built into the strings that bind everything together. It is in our DNA and it vibrates and pulses, coils and uncoils in a glorious symphony that connects us all. Most of the time we are not even aware it is happening, because it’s so much a part of us. Artists understand; the rest of us; not so much.