Proof the collider had not been destroyed. Proof it was still in play somewhere. That was bad enough, but even worse was his hunch. The collider’s reactions with rem-particles had a stark similarity to recent experiments to try to detect the graviton, the quantum particle predicted to be responsible for gravity, and never discovered.
But if he took the moon’s orbital aberrations and compared them with the rem calculations he’d used only months ago to program the collider, and applied the same calculations to the gravitational changes for the moon ... there was a very disturbing parallel.
He turned around again and stared at the raised podium the collider used to sit on. Was it possible his invention was not only still at large—who knew where?—but that it was also responsible for the changes in the moon’s orbit? A beep from his computer attracted his attention and he turned to look at the screen behind him.
The blood drained from his face. He still hadn’t been able to make contact with Sarina, and he and Nathan had kept missing each other’s calls. But what did the blackmailer mean: We have all the children? A cold shiver ran down his neck. An image of Lena at school flashed into his head. He shook it away. Even though he wasn’t certain how serious the threats were, he’d already organised security guards for his stepdaughter.
And he’d asked Agent Blanchard to track down the perpetrators of the messages, and to investigate the source of the leak: how else would someone know about the collider? But now they had gone too far. He had already made it clear there was no machine, and he had no idea what they were talking about. He’d put Blanchard on the case to track them down. If anyone had the connections to figure this out, it would be Agent William Blanchard.
His phone rang and he looked down to see the caller. Speak of the devil: Blanchard.
“Bill. What do you hear?”
The voice was unemotional. “Professor, we have a situation.”
“What do you mean? Spell it out.” He heard the Agent take a deep breath.
“Sir, I would consider I have some of the highest authorisations available, along with contacts I would rate at extreme-trust level. Every angle, every lead and every snippet of information I have pursued or been given has either led to a dead-end, or turned out to have been destroyed or lost. Worse still, I’m getting reports that I have been impersonated and that children are missing. I’ve put a quarantine on it for the moment, but if we don’t do something soon, it will be public knowledge, although ...”
“What? Speak your mind.”
“Sir ... I’m not sure how to put this. Someone more powerful than us is throwing a blanket over communication and shutting down any action to uncover what has happened to these kids. Even their parents have been reassured their kids are safe with us, away on some fictitious project.”
“Did you say ‘someone more powerful than us’? That’s a strong statement coming from you.”
“I know, sir. I asked myself the same question. For my operatives to have absolutely no intelligence around this, is unusual. Very unusual.”
Harrison thumped the bench with his free hand, and clenched the phone hard. Events were overtaking him, and now Blanchard, his most reliable man on the ground, was telling him he had nothing. He brought the phone back to his ear. “Bill. What’s your best guess?”
“The Consortium. It’s the only possible answer. They’re the only people with strings pulled high enough to do the kind of clandestine work we’re seeing.”
Harrison drew in a noisy breath through his teeth. The Consortium. A mythical shadowy international arms network, reputed to be comprised of powerful figures, including several heads of state. “They exist?”
“I take this as proof, sir. All the evidence stacks up. As does the fact that they know about the collider and the kids, despite all our efforts.”
A realisation dawned on him. Sarina and Nathan. “Blanchard. Did you say all the children are missing?”
“Lena is safe, sir. But most of the others are missing.”
“Including—”
“Yes, Professor. Including Sarina and Nathan.”
Harrison slumped. “Oh, God. What have I done?”
“Sir?”
He pulled himself together. “The security guards you found me. Are they the best we can get?”
“I’ve already double-checked, sir. But I’ve increased the number to three, and they rotate shifts. She’s protected day and night, sir.”
“Thank you, Bill.”
He relaxed a little and stroked his chin. “I think we have one thing we might use to our advantage.”
“Yes, sir?”
“The Consortium obviously doesn’t know we’re not in possession of the collider, or that we don’t know where it is.”
“How will that help us, sir?”
“If I can stall them by telling them I have it hidden somewhere—somewhere hard to get to—and set up a meeting, perhaps that will give you enough time to find the kids. Can you identify any members of this so-called Consortium?”
Blanchard was silent for a while. “Possibly. But it will place my men in danger. What do you have in mind?”
“I will threaten to reveal them.”
“With the utmost respect, Professor Harrison, you are a scientist, and not a special—”
“Operative? No. But I am responsible for those kids. And Blanchard—” he waited.
“Yes?”
“I also have disturbing news. There is an argument that implies the collider may not have been destroyed, and it’s causing these issues with the moon.”
“What issues, sir?”
Harrison had forgotten that up until now, the furore with the moon’s shifts in orbit had not made it out into the mainstream media. But it wouldn’t be long—at least if it kept creeping closer to the Earth. “The moon may be shifting its orbit closer to the earth. It may even be accelerating towards us. You’ll hear about it soon enough, is my bet.”
“You think the collider is involved, sir?”
“Yes. Maybe. I don’t know for sure. I have some calculations underway which should confirm it, one way or another.”
There was silence. Blanchard spoke up. “Then I assume you will be needing Ms Metcalfe and Master Goldberg as soon as possible.”
“Yes. I have a suspicion that between them they hold the information about the whereabouts of the device, even if they don’t realise it. And what we cannot afford is for that knowledge to fall into the hands of this Consortium.”
“Very well, sir. If I may suggest?”
“Go on, Bill. We are equals, even if you still insist on calling me sir.”
“The Consortium may be flushed out with some decoy tactics. I will release a couple of operatives who will let word slip they are out to secure the machine’s location from marauders. We will monitor all our communications to discover where the leak is, and track down who they report to.”
“As long as this does not stand in the way of you locating the kids.”
“No, sir, it will not. When you make contact with the messaging party, let me know what arrangements you make. It will be key to analysing their operation.”
The Professor looked at his watch. “Blast! I have another government committee meeting to attend tomorrow. Bureaucrats. Forever poking their noses in. I’ll call you after they’ve grilled me for the umpteenth time. Message me if and when you uncover anything, but I may not be able to respond immediately.”
“Yes, Professor.”
“Blanchard?”
“Yes?”
“Be careful.”
“You should talk, sir. But I will.”
~ 20 ~
Kindergarten Pictures
“You’re going to what?” Nathan’s eyes were wide. “We’re going to what?”
Sarina forced a smile. “I thought you’d like it.”
Rona put her hand on Sarina�
��s arm. “Sarina—it’s a bold plan. But if you really want to retrieve this device, then we’re going to have to plan out every step, and fast. Have you thought it through? How do we get out of this? Where do we start?” She waved her hand around them at the kids busy with paper and paint.
“We start with Captain Ilia.”
“Now you’ve totally blown your circuits.” Nathan stared at her. “He’s already made it clear he’s in it for his customer—which you are not—and that he will play us for all he can get. Are you mad? Seriously.” He shook his head.
She stamped her foot. “Nathan Goldberg! Are you forgetting that together we defeated a sorcerer and his ugly companion, not once, but twice, and saved our world from impending stupidity?”
“I dunno about that last part,” Nathan said to the floor. “Stupidity is still impending all around me if you ask me—OW! WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?” He rubbed his head where Sarina had slapped him hard across it.
“It’s a good job you’ve got a thick skull. Listen to me. Who else has the information about the whereabouts of the collider, other than us? Who else has the power to end this silliness? Tell me that.”
“But we’ve only just turned thirteen!”
“Huh?” Sarina narrowed her eyes. “If you don’t help me, I’ll put it on the internet that I saw you crying.”
“Sarina!” Rona said. “Now who’s the bully? Stop this squabbling.”
Sarina folder her arms and waited.
“Thank you. We’re all scared, upset and angry. But that still doesn’t mean they should win. You clearly have some idea of what to ask the Captain. Let’s start with that. It doesn’t matter what situation you find yourself in, there’s always some power and influence to be had.”
Sarina nodded. “Sorry, Nathan. Rona’s right. Half of me is angry and the other half frightened to death. But we don’t have much choice do we? And you and I have faced problems worse than this before—and won. Will you help me please?”
Nathan looked up. “Now you sound more like the Orange Witch.”
“And you sound like her master strategist. So let’s make a plan to take to our Kapitan.”
After Sarina shared her idea with Rona and Nathan, the atmosphere changed to a positive one—one you could feel, she thought. Between them, they honed their plan to persuade the Russian Captain to let them all go. Well, almost all of them.
A few hours later, they were back in the Captain’s meeting room.
“No.”
This time Rona was with them, and she wheeled herself forward. “Captain Ilia. You must know that kidnapping children is a serious offence. You have a chance to absolve yourself of guilt, but still make yourself of value to your customer.”
The Captain bent down and held Rona’s hand. “Pretty lady, you make mistake. You mistake me for man with big heart.” He gave a belly laugh. “Instead I am man with big wallet. Customer will be angry if delivery of kids is short. Customer will not pay. And Ilia still wait for customer to make contact so Ilia can sell secret of weapon. Now go. Please, no more trickery”—he picked up the pile of kids paintings from the table and waved them at them—“I have work. And to speak of work, I do things you ask. When you return, you see space is bigger. Toilets also arrive, no?” He smirked. “More kids too—but no problem, Kapitan Ilia bring you more pencils and papers, da!” He nodded to the two men in the room, who shoved Sarina, Nathan and Rona towards the door.
“Alright, alright,” Nathan said, “We’re moving. Can’t you see the pretty lady is in a wheelchair?”
The men didn’t lessen their shoving, and took them via several narrow gangways barely wide enough for Rona’s chair, until they reached a crane-like apparatus. Actually, Sarina thought, it really was a crane, situated within the ship itself. She guessed it moved freight between floors.
One of the men pointed to a large basket-like contraption hanging from the crane, similar to something found hanging from a hot air balloon. He indicated with his hand he wanted them to enter.
“Oh no,” Sarina said.
“It’s alright,” Rona said, rolling herself off the barrier-less gangway, across the small gap, and onto the swaying floor of the basket, “I’ve been in this before. It’s safe. Comparatively.”
They followed her aboard, and one of the men pulled a chain across the entrance and hooked one end over a nail. Nathan inspected it. “Yep, that’s safe.”
The basket jerked and began to descend. They could see a man down below looking up and pressing buttons on a handheld unit connected by a cable to a large, motor-like enclosure.
Nathan looked at Sarina. “Well that went well.”
Sarina sighed. She’d been certain her idea would work—to tug at the heartstrings of the Captain. She’d even mentioned his daughter, Petra, and how he would feel if she was kidnapped.
But he had not even flinched. Just a curt: ‘No.’ She’d felt the answer like a physical blow in her stomach.
Now she was far from certain about anything, let alone tracking down the collider. “I really thought once he saw all the kids’ drawings of their mums and dads and brothers and sisters, he’d feel awful and let them go.”
“And keep us three for his customer.” Rona said. She smiled and grabbed their hands. “I think we did our best. Even if he had agreed, we still had to persuade him to let us bring the machine here.”
Sarina gazed down at the floor rising up to meet them. If she was honest, in her heart, she knew why the man was unaffected. As soon as she’d seen the paintings her heart had sunk. Drysdale was right—she had no ability to show emotion through her work, and couldn’t teach that to others, even kids. Especially kids. They’d shown the Captain a bunch of kindergarten pictures, and no more—pictures that would only melt the hearts of the young artists’ parents. She turned back to Rona and Nathan, who was peering out over the edge of the basket. “He would have fallen for that. Nathan—you saw the look in his eyes before. He wanted that weapon.”
“Only because it meant more money.” Nathan didn’t turn around, but kept scrutinising something below.
“What are you looking at?” Sarina dared not join him for fear of upsetting the already-swinging crane basket.
Nathan twisted around and looked at her. “Down there.” He pointed across to the wall. “Do you see those symbols?”
Sarina and Rona followed Nathan’s finger. Sarina couldn’t quite see—or at least, all she did see was a row of dirty triangular signs along the wall. Quite old as far as she could tell. Then she realised where she’d seen something similar before: the grimy and worn painted sign on the wall in the hold. “What are they?”
“Hazardous Waste symbols.” Nathan turned around to look at Sarina and Rona. “I’d been wondering why the ship was so quiet and why the walls seemed so ... solid. I bet this ship was once used to transport nasty stuff—radioactive waste probably.”
“Ugh.” Sarina shivered. “Is it still radioactive?”
“If it was, they wouldn’t be down here with us.” He pointed to the men below waiting for the basket, now quite close to the floor. He looked at Rona. “Didn’t you say your mobile phone had no signal?”
Rona nodded.
“That’s why. This place is lined with lead. No radiation gets in—or out.”
Rona furrowed her brow. “Do you think that’s significant?”
“I’m not sure.” He sighed. “But I think we should explore further—hey look, they’ve opened up more areas—and there’s more kids!” Now they were almost at the floor—and the clunk and settling of the basket told Sarina they were at the floor—she saw what Nathan was pointing to. A giant sliding door was open at the other end of the hold they’d been lowered into. Inside they could see at least another twenty or thirty kids filing into a large freight area, where at the far end Sarina could just about make out the stairs she had first arrived by.
More children. A lead-lined ship. A Captain unmoved. And a failed art teacher. She sighed.
The men rele
ased the ‘security chain’ and Rona led them off the basket and across to join the line of frightened kids.
“What now?” Nathan whispered to Sarina as they walked.
“I was hoping you would know the answer to that.” She held herself tight with both arms.
Nathan scoffed. “Oh come on. I thought the Orange Witch and her sidekick strategist would already be onto Plan B.” He gave her an odd look and mouthed, ‘Are you okay?’ as the men pushed them through the door, which commenced a slow and grinding journey across the floor.
She shook her head. “The Orange Witch is dead, Nathan.” She walked off to find a space by herself.
Somewhere no one would see her cry.
~ 21 ~
Bait
Professor Harrison stared at the latest message. Underneath the text was a list of names and familiar young faces.
He picked up the phone and dialled. “Blanchard? ... Yes. What progress do you have? I assume none, since I did not hear from you this morning at the committee meeting.” He listened, his expression becoming darker. “Then we must change tactics. If you are still being thwarted at every step, then we are not only up against someone powerful—the Consortium perhaps—but someone who knows something of our operation. Listen, Blanchard—I’ve had another message. They know about our decoys—or at least, they think we are collecting the device, so at least something is working in our favour. But our plan was to use that to bait and trap those who have kidnapped the children. Unfortunately, things have escalated. If we don’t deliver the machine tomorrow, they’re threatening to release the IDs of all our Dreamer Kids to the public.”
Harrison listened again, then nodded. “Exactly. If the Anti-Psi Kids, or whatever they are calling themselves now, get hold of that information, there’ll be a riot. And our children will be at the centre of it. What do you suggest?”
The Dreamer Chronicles Trilogy Boxed Set Vol I - III: A Sci-Fi Parallel Universe Adventure (The Dreamer Chronicles - Science Fiction For Kids And Adults) Page 75
