by JC Ryan
The Rowen
A Rossler Foundation Mystery – Book 7
A Mystery Suspense Thriller
By JC Ryan
with Kadin Rixx
Rowen is a word from Middle English meaning, a second growth of hay in one season, also known as the aftermath.
Copyright 2014 by J C Ryan
This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork herein is prohibited. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. All rights reserved.
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MYSTERIES FROM THE ANCIENTS
THOUGHT PROVOKING UNSOLVED ARCHAEOLOGICAL MYSTERIES
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Read all about The Great Pyramid at Giza, The Piri Reis Map, Doomsday, Giant Geoglyphs, The Great Flood, Ancient Science and Mathematics, Human Flight, Pyramids, Fertility Stones, the Tower of Babel, Mysterious Tunnels, The Mystery of The Anasazi and much more.
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Contents
PART 1 – The Awakening
Chapter 1- The Earth was shifting
Chapter 2- A bright flash came from the sky
Chapter 3- Let’s get this done
Chapter 4- She didn’t resist
Chapter 5- We will rule the world
Chapter 6- Birth of the Re’an
Chapter 7- He was my lover
Chapter 8- Formerly known as Robert Cartwright
Chapter 9- We are in the Eleventh Cycle
Chapter 10- Contact
PART 2 – The Rowen
Chapter 11- The nomination
Chapter 12- A power struggle
Chapter 13- Your solemn promise
Chapter 14- Accountability
Chapter 15- ‘Need-to-know’ and ‘face-to-face’
Chapter 16- Shut up and move
Chapter 17- A quiet prayer
Chapter 18- Under new management
Chapter 19- A location for the executions
Chapter 20- Business as usual
Chapter 21- The decoys
Chapter 22- Give the order
Chapter 23- Now what?
Chapter 24- They’re going to need some help
Chapter 25- A back-up plan
Chapter 26- See you at the rendezvous
Chapter 27- Come right this way
Chapter 28- Hand me the scalpel
Chapter 29- A lion examining its prey
Chapter 30- I can, but you won’t like it
Chapter 31- Get this bird ready to land
Chapter 32- Into the early morning sky
Chapter 33- That’s my wife you’re holding mister
Chapter 34- You better run and hide
Chapter 35- You will be his slaves
Chapter 36- A little carried away
Chapter 37- You’re all dismissed!
Chapter 38- See to it that they don’t
Chapter 39- ‘Stubborn’ is their middle name
Chapter 40- The first planning session
Chapter 41- They had to make contact
Chapter 42- Spyflies and spyders
Chapter 43- This is inhumane
Chapter 44- To the Trepang
Chapter 45- Raven Rock
Chapter 46- My lips are sealed
Chapter 47- In two days’ time
Chapter 48- We shall continue
Chapter 49- Merge us
Chapter 50- Gritting his teeth
Chapter 51- Only a matter of time
Chapter 52- Welcome to the team
Chapter 53- Their first mission
Chapter 54- A brief message
Chapter 55- We must risk it
Chapter 56- So many big batteries
Chapter 57- Quietly down the tunnel
Chapter 58- Secure the boat
Chapter 59- Get Daniel out here
Chapter 60- Get us to the surface!
Chapter 61- No, absolutely not
Chapter 62- Finding the Trepang
Chapter 63- Tuck and roll
Chapter 64- Turn your men loose
Chapter 65- To find a positive solution
Chapter 66- Are we clear?
Chapter 67- You’re going to regret it
Chapter 68- Dwindling enthusiasm
Chapter 69- The stings
Chapter 70- A bird’s-eye view of the world
Chapter 71- PsyOps Phase Two
Chapter 72- The only hope we have
Chapter 73- And then there were three
Chapter 74- Yes. I did
Chapter 75- They were forced together
Chapter 76- Meet at the sail
Chapter 77- And then there was one
Chapter 78- Reduce the transfer rate
Chapter 79- We found them!
Chapter 80- A terrible ordeal
Chapter 81- The hope of two worlds
Chapter 82- Finalizing the plan
Chapter 83- To advise you as best I can
Chapter 84- Operation Winnow
Chapter 85- I will work with anyone
Chapter 86- Believe him
Chapter 87- To get the party moving again
Chapter 88- How much time do we have?
PART 1 – The Awakening
Chapter 1- The Earth was shifting
June 30, 1908, Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Siberia, Russian Empire
Shadows appeared in the complete darkness as faint light began to illuminate what was hidden in the blackness. Rows and rows of neatly lined up silver, egg-like pods reflected the dim light making it slightly stronger than it would have been otherwise. Each elongated pod lay horizontal on a sturdy stand and had a small panel on one side, some with glowing lights, and some without. On one of the pods the lights on the panel were bright and flashing, and with a quiet hiss, the transparent top of the pod began to move. It slid halfway down the eight-foot length of itself revealing the body of a man, dark hair, and a clean-shaven, chiseled face. The man moved, sitting up, revealing a well-muscled upper torso and arms, bearing the scars of many battles.
Emerging slowly from his pod, he blinked in the dim light, the skin of his bare chest prickling in the crisp air. He found himself in a large, cavernous room and felt uneasy. Looking around, seeking the source of his disquiet, he eyed the other pods in the room as his memories flooded back.
Ligator! Where is Ligator?
As the commander, the awakening routine had been programmed to activate Ligator’s pod and awaken him first; then it would be up to him to decide if he should awaken his second in command.
Where is Ligator?
He stared at the pod next to his and saw that it remained sealed, its control panel lights still dark.
Ligator’s pod must have malfunctioned.
Another wave of anxiety hit him. The wake sequence was
programmed to trigger only in two instances—when a new and advanced human society found them or when there was an imminent natural threat that could destroy them.
Which one is it; clever humans or a threat from nature?
I must get to the control room to see what has triggered the waking cycle.
He disconnected the tubes and wires connected to his body and climbed out of the pod. The pods were designed to sustain life while the body was in a deep, near-death sleep, for up to a hundred thousand years. Necessary sustenance and periodic stimulations to keep the muscles strong and moveable, ensured the person would awaken invigorated and alert.
He looked into Ligator’s pod; there was only a small pile of what looked like dust and debris—no body. He took in a sharp breath.
Ligator is dead. I am in command now.
How long has it been? It must be less than a hundred thousand years but…
He shivered as he approached the lockers on the far wall. He was looking forward to the warmth of coverings and the security of his weapon.
He opened the airtight locker where his personal items had been stored before entering the pod and dressed in a black shirt and black pants— the uniform of a soldier of the Eighth Cycle. He sat on the nearby bench to put on his boots and then returned to the locker for his weapon.
The small silver and black cylinder, about an inch in diameter, fitted easily and comfortably in his hand. It was a powerful weapon that accurately fired an invisible, deadly pulse, capable of incinerating a target, leaving only a heap of ash with no chance for re-animation. It was a close-quarters weapon—ideal in a facility like this. For now, there was no need to retrieve one of the long-range weapons.
Feeling warmer and more secure in clothes and with a weapon in hand, he headed for the control room after triggering the awakening cycle on a pod across from his. It was standard procedure to always have at least two officers in every operational detachment at all times.
Soltan is intelligent and capable. I’ll promote him to second in command—he will serve me well.
By the time he left the pod room the lights had come to full illumination, allowing him to see clearly. He moved quickly but cautiously through the deserted hallways.
If someone has entered the facility, where would they be?
Pausing frequently to listen for voices or sounds of movement, he worked his way toward the central hub. The emptiness and absolute silence, almost hurting his ears, left him with an eerie, surreal feeling.
The closer he got to the central complex without detecting any sign of life, the tenser he became.
Where are they?
Are they hiding?
Why would they hide if they think this facility is deserted?
He slowed as he entered the large hub and then even more as he approached the corridor leading to the control center—every muscle in his body on alert, his weapon raised and ready to fire.
Warily, he stole down the corridor, stopping every other step to listen and check behind him. Finally, he reached the door to the control room and leaned against it, listening for noises in the room but hearing only silence. An apprehensive tingle started at the base of his spine and worked its way up his back, making the hair on the back of his neck prickle.
I don’t like this.
Something is wrong here.
Gently he tested the square, palm-size gray pad next to the door. As designed, it responded to the pressure of his hand and he saw the door start to move. He took a step back and raised his weapon.
He checked the corridor again.
It’s too quiet in here.
Stepping over the threshold, his eyes darted around the room—nothing. He moved forward. Nothing out of the ordinary caught his eyes, but then this wasn’t his installation—he didn’t know much about it. Every one of them, including the captured scientists and civilians, had been put into the deep sleep cycle shortly after attacking and overpowering the facility. There had been no time for them to familiarize themselves with the place.
One by one, he examined the multitude of panels, screens, switches, and lights.
Something is wrong. What is it?
He felt a tingling sensation under his feet—it grew stronger, and suddenly he lost his balance as the floor moved under his feet.
The Earth is shifting!
Regaining his feet, he noticed a green light glowing on one of the panels on the wall to his left. Approaching to examine, it appeared to be a monitoring and control panel. There were four tall, rectangular displays side by side on the panel that appeared to be some kind of gage. Each display was divided into four equal vertical sections holding four similarly colored lights. Blue at the bottom followed by green, amber, and red at the top.
To the left of each gage, corresponding to the colored lights were labels with numbers. Next to blue was 0 – 1, green was 1 – 2, Amber 2 - 3 and red was labeled 3 – 4. A narrow line, probably made of metal, hovered horizontally over the colored lights and appeared to be made to move up and down the stack in response to some stimulus.
Below each rectangular display were a set of dials that he surmised were used for making adjustments to whatever the displays were monitoring.
On the first display, the one to the left, the light was green; on the others, the lights were blue. The line on the first gage hovered over the middle of the green section. His eyes darted to the other gages, similar to the one he just inspected. The needles on them were all hovering near the bottom of the displays in the lower portion of the blue sector.
The only one that’s different is the green one; Why?
He paced the room, clueless, checking gauges and equipment. Returning to check the first gauge after every few paces, he noticed it continued a slow climb through the green sector toward the amber sector.
I’m a soldier, not a scientist. How am I supposed to know what to do?
There is some kind of threat lurking—that much I know.
“There are no other humans here. It must be another type of threat then,” he mumbled.
He checked the green gauge again, noticing it had moved up again, almost touching the amber section now—that spurred him into action.
Returning to the pod room quickly, he checked the panel on Soltan’s pod noting that the cycle was progressing without problems.
Although Viktor knew the deep sleep procedure was technically sophisticated, it was fairly simple to enact, even for a layperson. He recited the process mentally just to be sure he would recognize a problem if one arose.
A person entering the deep sleep was placed in a pod and hooked up to an intravenous drip that released an anesthetic to render the person unconscious before a very cold fluid with a high concentration of oxygen filled the pod, and the person began breathing it.
A drug was then administered to stop the heart, and the blood siphoned from the body and stored, in a frozen state, in a container inside the lining of the pod. Artificial blood, filled with nutrients that would keep the muscles strong and joints flexible, was put back into the body to slowly circulate throughout for as long as it remained in the deep sleep.
Finally, micro electrical stimulations, continuously sent to the brain through tiny electrodes that penetrated the skull at the temples, kept the brain unconscious but alive and ready to function when the person awoke.
When awakening someone out of the deep sleep, the process was reversed. The liquid inside the pod, the chemical inside the body, and the person’s real blood would be warmed; the electrical stimulation would increase in strength, and when the liquid in the pod reached the specified core body temperature, the artificial blood would be removed and replaced with the person’s real blood.
The liquid in the pod would drain out and be suctioned out of the lungs. Then the heart would be restarted through electrical and chemical stimulation while brain wave stimulation continued to increase.
Soltan would be awake soon—which was not soon enough, but he knew he could not interfere with the proces
s. Not unless he wanted to turn Soltan into a pile of dust like the hapless Ligator.
I need another brain here to help me figure out what is happening.
But Soltan is a soldier, he probably understands as much as or less than I do.
He turned and approached a pod at the far end of the room, hesitated for a moment, and pressed the button to begin the awakening cycle. It would take time for the woman to regain consciousness and be able to leave the pod—all he could do was wait.
“Don’t want any more dust heaps, especially not this scientist. We need her now.” He muttered as he started pacing impatiently again.
How long have we been asleep?
What is happening outside?
Or perhaps I should first ask; what has happened outside while I was asleep?
This L’gundo scientist might have the answers to those questions.
Soltan, a tall, blond haired man whose physique easily matched his in comeliness and strength, emerged from his pod.
“Viktor,” Soltan shouted from inside his pod, “good to see you!”
Viktor moved quickly to Soltan’s pod when he heard it opening, “good to see you too my friend.”
“Do you know how long we’ve been asleep? How long have you been awake? Where are the others? Where is Ligator?” Soltan fired off a barrage of questions.
Shaking his head, Viktor replied, “Ligator’s pod malfunctioned, he is dead. I’ve only been awake a short while, so I don’t know how much time has passed. You are the second to awake. There is a problem in the control room—the pressure is rising in something, at least that’s what I think is happening. Do you know anything about the technology in this place?”
“No idea—I’m a soldier like you. I can fight, destroy, and kill—I don’t know how to fix things. Do you have any ideas?” Soltan said as Viktor assisted him to climb out of the pod.
“I don’t know anything about the equipment in this installation. I’ve started the awakening cycle on one of the L’gundo pods; the woman scientist we captured when we took control of this place. She should know what the readings mean and what actions to take.”
While the awakening cycle on the woman’s pod progressed, Soltan followed Viktor as he strolled among the one hundred pods, carefully checking the status on each of them. Viktor was pleased to find that only Ligator’s and two others had malfunctioned.
