Höllenbadt: Book two of the Torus Saga

by Berg, Michael

  “What do you consider to be our best option John?” Chan asked calmly.

  John looked around the entire group as they all watched him awaiting an answer. They all knew what was coming and they all felt a moment of sorrow as he spoke. “We need to leave as soon as possible.” He hesitated a moment before speaking again. “And…we are going to have to take back the jet and fly out of Peru.”

  Everyone had not wanted to hear this idea from John, as they had all grown very fond of life on the farm since they had arrived, and the others did not want them to leave. Since arrival, the entire group of sixteen adults had formed close friendship bonds as they all sought to live and support each other from the same motivation to be at peace, and from the intention to do their most to maintain life as it was on the farm.

  Raynie was the first to speak, voicing what the travellers felt, “We are so tired of running John. Even with the time when the Agent held us, it seems like we have been running for so many years now. The two months here have been so lovely, and so peaceful. This is a beautiful place. Can we just forget about the plane and hide here?”

  “Yeah honey. Steve and I like it here too.”

  “Believe me Raynie…and Kerry Ann, I am sick of all the running as well, and I too would like to stay. I agree this farm is great and I am very grateful for our being allowed to live here. But you know they are after the knowledge I have, and they will do whatever they can to capture me. It would place all of you in danger.” John looked into everyone’s eyes as he said this. “I cannot allow that to happen. They will send hundreds of officers to Arequipa and they would eventually find this place. It would only take a word by someone who might have seen us, for them to swarm all over the valleys here.”

  “Perhaps just you and I should leave John,” Carmel suggested. She could see and feel the dismay of the others, except for Chan, who had remained free of expression, thinking only of what was transgressing.

  “I’ll come with you,” Tobias offered. “Sure, it is great here, but I have a feeling this is not the end of anything for me at present. It is like something is calling me somewhere. I just don’t know where that is.”

  “John is correct to think how he has. It is within his nature to be considerate for us all. If he leaves with Carmel and Tobias, it would make it easier for the rest of us staying here.”

  “So you are thinking of staying then Chan?”

  “Yes I am. My thoughts are mostly of the Torus, and without any trail of reason or evidence leading to us here at the farm, it would be wise to remain in this valley and work more with its activation.”

  “What if you take the jet somewhere else and leave it, to then return?” Pablo suggested. “Then we can go on living as we have been.”

  “That is the best idea yet,” Jake remarked. “Together here, we can work on building a future…whatever that is, but if you leave, then you are just going on the run again.”

  “I agree there,” Lyle added. “You have work to do John and it will make it hard if you are going from place to place all the time.”

  John then looked at Jenna as if he was expecting her to take a turn at suggesting a different plan. She responded only by nodding in affirmation of Lyle and Jake’s suggestions.

  “You can take a vessel by sea to return,” Manuel added. “There are still vessels operating out of Mollendo on the coast doing the fishing run to the south. People still need to eat and the fishermen are always eager to take anyone on board who will work hard.”

  “But…I am still thinking, the authorities will comb this area, even if the plane is no longer here.”

  “They might John, but also consider their state of desperation. They will follow the only lead they have. I suppose it is a choice of running and going to places far from here, or doing this act of deception. It might fool them to be the victim of deception – something they have placed upon the people for years now.”

  “Ah, yeah, I suppose Carmel.”

  “And think of the Agent. He is out there somewhere and he will be looking for us. He still has his spaceship and going by the news recently, he has been able to modify the equipment he has. He will not have any idea of where we are at the moment, but you can be sure, he will be trying to find us.”

  “So, fly down to Chile and leave the jet there. Then you can take a fishing boat back up to Mollendo to re-join us here at the farm.”

  The sentence from Manuel had significant weight with John, and he ran through the scenario for a few minutes whilst the others all sat silently waiting.

  “Ok. Enough of this for a moment,” Lolita said breaking the silence. “I will fetch some drinks while we wait for John, Tobias, and Carmel to think this over.”

  Eventually they decided John and Tobias would take the plane and fly south, to then return on any fishing boat they could find. Steve had offered to go with Tobias and John, but both men refused the offer when Pablo told them that two men looking for fishing work, would be more likely to be successful than three.

  “It is often the way, for two friends to go off and do some fishing aboard a boat to earn some money. Three is seldom seen.”

  Juan rode with them on horseback in the dead of the night towards Arequipa. He had offered to go to the city without hesitation and would then lead the other two horses back to the farm as he rode.

  “I wish you all the luck possible for your journey and I sincerely hope to see you again soon, back at the farm.”

  “How long do the fishing runs take?” Tobias asked as he handed the reigns of his horse to Juan.

  “Normally they are four weeks at this time of the year. It is not long until the current becomes strong from the southern seas, so they will not stay as long as they do during the summer months.”

  “So our chances are still good?”

  “Oh yes. Many fishermen will be looking to catch as much as they can before the winter sets in. You should have no trouble. But...travel south again after you land. Fly to Santiago and then go south to the city of Concepcion. Then go to the coast and then take a boat from there.”

  “Ok. Um, thanks. We will see you in about a month or so.”

  “Yes. In a month or so.”

  “Thanks Juan.”

  “No problem John. See you also in a month or so.”

  Tobias stood watch as John configured his device to gain access to the HyperJet being guarded by the same four officers.

  “Ok mate, I’ve got it. The door is unlocked and the pre-flight sequence is initiating. All we have to do now is to get past those guards. I’ll go in whilst you distract them for a few seconds. Once you have their attention, I’ll go in, and then you have to run. Lead them away, then without any warning, double back, but have your ray gun at the ready.”

  John stood watching from the shadows as Tobias began their plan, “Hey excuse me. I was wondering if…”

  “What do you want? This is a restricted area. You have no business here.”

  “Oh sorry, I was just wondering of you could help me. I have this device I found and I thought you might know what it is. I think it is an illegal machine of some type.” Three of the four officers began to walk towards Tobias, whilst the other remained in position at the far side of the hanger doorway.

  “What have you got?” one of them asked when they were only twenty yards from him.

  “I don’t know, but I think you should look. I found it just a while ago as I passed by here on my way home.”

  “There are no houses near the airport.”

  “Yes I know, but I always come this way, to make it back by curfew time…”

  Tobias had made a mistake, as had the guards in overlooking the curfew in place meaning it was illegal to be out at this time. The Peruvian authorities had not yet instituted the twenty-four hour limit, but it was still illegal to be out after nine.

  “Wait!”

  “No way.” Tobias turned on an arcing run towards the other side of the hanger away from the guard who had remained in place. Fortunately fo
r Tobias, the door into the HyperJet was on the side where the others had walked from.

  “I said wait!” The three officers had turned and were readying their rifles, and the fourth guard was also running towards him. “We will fire.”

  “No you won’t,” Tobias stated as he turned whilst running and fired off a few bolts of electricity from his ray gun. None of the bolts struck any of the officers, but they had created enough distraction for Tobias to make it to the ladder leading into the jet. He scrambled up as quickly as they continued their approach after the momentary distraction. His pursuers were now firing with a few laser pulses striking the side of the jet when he pulled the door shut, as the HyperJet began to move.

  “Go John! All good.”

  John boosted the engines to maximum power for taxiing and steered the jet out through the hanger door amongst a volley of shots from the officers. The moment he had made the runway, he gave it full boost, leaving the officers to flail about in the wake of its engines. When they reached one thousand feet, John engaged the hypersonic drive and the jet soared into the night sky at a rate beyond the normal speed for comfortable passenger travel. This resulted in him being pinned firmly in his seat, and Tobias was flung against the wall of the compartment he had made it to but had not yet sat down. At thirty thousand feet, Tobias was finally able to make it to the cockpit where John was working the controls of both the jet and the stealth device he had engaged just prior to take off.

  “They won’t get a heading on us, but they will come looking. I am going in at maximum, but not for Santiago. I’m going to take us to Mendoza in Argentina. It will give us a longer trip back to the coast, but make it harder for the authorities to look for us. I’m taking a chance they will think we are heading for Buenos Aires after we land.”

  The airport at Mendoza was similar to Arequipa in size, but the city was far smaller. As they approached on a steep decline at the fastest speed John considered safe, Tobias became a little nervous.

  “Hey mate, this is not the Beaver you know. You cannot land these things on gravel bars.”

  “Are you sure? Maybe I should give it a try.” John laughed as he saw the look on Tobias’s face as if he took him seriously.

  “You’re the captain. Take her in captain.”

  John brought the jet to a stop at the end of the runway, and then taxied to the main hanger. They left the plane inside, making sure they locked it just to slow things down for any officer of the authorities who might try to get in.

  “They’ll be onto this plane by mid-morning at the latest. We will have to keep moving and stay in hiding. These clothes Juan gave us will help.”

  By the time the two men had left the airport and made their way unseen, into the city, seven United States military HyperJets had diverted their course from Arequipa, to Mendoza. When the two men had boarded public transport for the journey across the Andes Mountains to the west of the city early that morning, officers of the authorities had placed a cordon around the rogue HyperJet, whilst demanding the local authorities scour the city for the men.

  Tobias and John barely spoke as they boarded the transport, attempting to remain as inconspicuous as possible. Instead, they mumbled their way aboard, drawing the tattered clothes Juan had provided, around them against the chill wind coming down from the mountains. They sat in separate seats, where they both pretended to be asleep to avoid communicating with any other passengers, for the five-hour trip to Santiago.

  The authorities remained in position throughout the city looking for the pilot of the jet, and any accomplice. Officers were despatched to search all travellers en-route to Buenos Aires, and also for the route west towards the mountains, but John and Tobias had slipped through their net earlier than it could be cast.

  Chapter 31

  Eric was subjected to the anger of his superior officers as he filed the report on the outcome of the objective to find John in South America. His superior was far from pleased considering any failure by Eric, would be seen as a failure on his part, for which he too would be reprimanded.

  “You say the rogue HyperJet was just abandoned in Mendoza. At what time?”

  “It is estimated John Matheson abandoned the jet some time between three and five in the morning.”

  “What! A two-hour window. That is insufficiently imprecise. How can there be such a distortion in the efficiency of your operations? Have you not assessed the flight data from the craft to ascertain the precise time?”

  “The data is unavailable sir. We are having trouble accessing the systems, as the plane was unused prior to Matheson stealing it from the manufacturing plant in Seattle. There are simply no systems codes in our data banks for reference. The plane had not yet been attached sir.”

  “I see. A reasonable assertion on your part. And your next calculation is?”

  “The codes for access into the HyperJet system are being deciphered now sir. I estimate within the hour, we will have the precise data required. We are also deploying three scouter robots with enhance DNA sampling scanners sir. We have the DNA data for Matheson on standby. As soon as the robots are in place, we will provide them with the required information.”

  “And their range? How far can these robots be from Matheson in order to detect him?”

  “Two hundred and twenty three miles is the longest range we can configure at this point sir. Of course if we had flux mechanics, we could…”

  “But we don’t! I don’t care for ‘ifs’. I only care for certainties. I am well aware flux mechanics would provide us with infinite range capabilities. But, what I am not well aware of is the incarceration and subsequent interrogation of John Matheson proceeding to the provision of the data we require in order to build flux mechanics. And do not for a moment even begin to tempt me with your pathetic pseudo flux mechanics. Those systems have been faulty since day one.”

  “I understand sir.”

  “Do you? Do you really know what it means to continue using these ancient systems? You’ve had your head in the clouds of research and development too long Gunter. All this time as you work on your next solution, the reality has been that we have had to labour along with insufficient capacity, and made to merely linger for long periods at the hand of the Agent. Even now with his viruses nearly entirely gone, we are still experiences setbacks. What progress have you really made Gunter?”

  “We have the latest robotics. Their graphene based neural networks are capable of making autonomous decisions based on anticipation of the human psyche sir.”

  “Yes. They are one development of yours that carries a hint of merit. What else?”

  “The nano construction developments, they have been advanced much more in recent times.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning that we are able to program them to reconstitute any matter at the sub-atomic level into whatever we program them to build.”

  “Can they build these scouter robotics you speak of…anywhere?”

  “Um, yes sir. They are capable of such tasks. It is just that we have not been in the position to deploy the nano constructors as yet sir.”

  “Because of the Agent?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “But he is virtually no longer. Deploy them now. Test them wherever you see fit and then report back to me with your successful results. We have teams monitoring your own internal systems Gunter…”

  “I know that sir.”

  “Don’t interrupt! As I was about to say, we are monitoring your systems. Any more failure on your part and you know of the consequences, don’t you.”

  “System disintegration?”

  “Precisely. So I’ll leave the choice up to you. Either report success to me, or simply cease to exist. Do you understand?”

  “Yes sir.”

  The last words carried significant weight for Eric. He knew the risk he had taken in becoming so much trans-human in part. The superiors had the capacity to disengage all of his internal nano mechanics whenever they deemed it necessary. This had be
en a trade off for the enhanced capabilities he experienced as a human being – one he had considered worth taking. Eric was driven by the promise of what the future ahead would have in store for him. He knew that with on-going development, his internal mechanics would evolve in their own way, through automatically upgrading their interface with his remaining organic self. Some time in the future, he was certain they would have developed sufficiently to enable him to function more as a robot than as a human being, yet retain a slight notion of self. This enthralled him as it stimulated his exponential expectations of scientific endeavour. He would become the epitome of the intentions the authorities had for their machine planet – a man with the workings of nano mechanics maintaining his systems in what he thought would be perfect alignment, and therefore in perfect efficiency. And when that time came to him as a realisation more than as a feeling, he would become his logical self and he would see almost an endless future within a world of trans-humanistic reality where the concept of birth and of death, would become a distant myth. The authorities would ensure they controlled the populations of Earth at the fullest extent they could envisage, and so those populations would be in service to them only, with all hints of their souls dissipated.

  Upon arrival back at his workstation, Eric’s internal systems automatically commenced their latest upgrade as the central computers assessed his present state, and then aligned his systems with the latest auto-generated upgrades. In a sense, the authorities had given nano mechanics a mind of their own, where they were at the frontier of breaching the line separating human and machine. Eric could sense with his remaining organic humanity that it would soon be time where machine would encapsulate the human experience as data, and then it would breach the line of separation to become a self-recognising and self-determining consciousness.

  He entered a series of sequences via the holographic array to send instructions for the scouter robots relocation to the southern Argentine city of Mendoza. Within his command data, he also sent orders for the crews of the robotic transport craft to prepare for the flight. Each of these craft was more like the spaceship the Agent flew, rather than being conventional aircraft like the HyperJets. Equipped with thrusters and rocket engines for acceleration to hypersonic speeds around mach eight, they were the latest the authorities had secretly developed for Earth bound flight. Pressurised anti G cabins enabled their pilots to endure the forces of gravity as they accelerated to maximum immediately upon reaching an altitude of a mere two hundred feet. Within twenty seconds, they reached speeds over five thousand miles per hour, enabling them to cover great distances in almost less time than it took for a conventional HyperJet to reach its permitted altitude for use of its hypersonic drive rockets. Within forty minutes, the three scouter robots were relocated to Mendoza, and within ten more minutes, they had become fully operational with their target being John’s DNA profile.