Twenty-four hours ago, I was writing in my own blood in hopes to save myself from the Asylum Angel, Mykl thought. Now I’m about to enter the home of a man people call “Jack the Ripper.” What were the next twenty-four hours going to bring?
“James? Mykl? Won’t you please come in?” said a pleasant female voice behind them.
“Is this where Jack works?” Mykl asked, hopping off the bench.
“Works, eats, sleeps, lives. This is his home. I am his wife, Delilah.”
She was a woman of slight build, and she exuded a comfortable confidence and consummate kindness. Mykl couldn’t help but stare into eyes so green that they couldn’t possibly be real. But when she looked to James, Mykl saw a brief shadow of wariness cloud her gaze. James was contemplating the end of his tie as if he were determining its worthiness to hold more knots. A quick shot from Mykl’s elbow to the side of James’s thigh brought his friend back to the moment.
They followed Delilah through another self-opening door and into a living space where the walls mimicked the outside view. The interior walls and partitions curved up and in, softening the visual lines. Furnishings with warm earthy tones and hints of primary colors blended with subtle lighting to give a cozy, open-air feel, and the faux transparency of the walls made the room look as large as the cavern outside. Mykl actually backpedaled to reconfirm the outer dimensions of the residence.
Apparently sensing his confusion, Delilah tapped a simple pattern on the inside wall with her fingernails. Instantly the walls transformed to plain white, allowing perception of the building’s true dimensions. A simple “ah” from Mykl drew a smile from their hostess and a perplexed head tilt from James.
“I can’t wait to experiment with my settings,” Mykl said.
“I’m sure you will find something to your liking.”
Delilah reset the room ambiance to its previous setting and led them to an arched opening farther inside. Mykl tried to imagine what kind of setting Jack would have for his own personal space. It had to be something spectacular. Perhaps underwater, a moonscape, a space station?
They stepped through the arch, and Delilah indicated an open doorway to their left. “Go on in, gentlemen, I’ll bring refreshments in shortly.”
Through the doorway was an extremely underwhelming work area. It yawned with plainness. Ordinary white walls with the same rounded sloping at the ceiling and no windows; it felt slightly claustrophobic. Jack sat behind a dark wood desk with two guest chairs in front. Behind him was a short file cabinet with an ancient black telephone sitting atop it.
The only interesting thing in the room was perched on a mantel over a well-worn couch: an exquisitely detailed crystal replica of a clipper ship. Gossamer filaments like spun glass composed the billowing sails. Delicate light glinted off the intricate rigging zigzagging between the masts. Cannon turrets bristled from bow to stern through the transparent hull.
The ship’s unique beauty captured James in its spell. He trundled toward it, his arms extended and fingers undulating like suction-cupped tentacles. Mykl, who had been about to sit in one of the chairs in front of Jack, sprinted the short distance to his friend and sprang off the couch to grab his outstretched arm. He pinned his friend with a complex series of facial contortions meant to convey the most dire of messages.
“Boat pretty,” James said as Mykl lead him to a seat.
The expression on Jack’s face showed that he was not amused. He kept his eye on James until he was seated in the chair next to Mykl. His silence made Mykl squirm. We’re both in deep trouble now; I just know it. He looked down at his new shoes dangling above the floor so as to avoid Jack’s piercing eyes.
After several seconds of awkward silence, Jack spoke. “That ship does have an unusual effect on people,” he said. “It was designed as a gift for me from my wife, who developed crystallized carbon technology.”
Mykl spared a second glance at the ship and jumped to the obvious meaning. It was made of diamond. If they had the technology to make such a finely detailed work of art, then the applications for diamond were practically limitless. He let his eyes wander about the room and realized that this and every other structure in the City must be constructed of diamond as well.
What would happen if this technology were released to the world?
“I hear you two had an active morning?” Jack said, his expression stern.
This is it. I’ve heard this kind of question before. It’s not really a question, but a preamble to a scolding. I knew better than to jump on the bed. And James? Well, James is James. Jack doesn’t know him as well as I do; I just hope his eccentricities will be taken into account.
Jack leaned forward to rest his arms on the desk, one hand covering the other as if he were composing himself for a long lecture.
“We all have secrets,” Jack began. “I know as well as anyone the importance of keeping one, and I respect your right to keep yours. You won’t be punished, or thought any less of, for keeping your own counsel. However, know this: no one in the City got here by denying reality. The truth is simply that—the truth. We deal with it without fear. Otherwise, this facility would not exist.”
Jack looked expectantly from James to Mykl.
Mykl weighed his words carefully. He had a free pass out of trouble if he just kept his mouth shut. No such promise had been made about telling the truth. But Jack had given his word that he wouldn’t hit him—that he would treat Mykl like a son. Perhaps it was time to fess and begin earning the man’s trust.
Mykl sat up straighter in his chair and looked Jack in the eyes. Jack followed suit by sitting up as well, pulling his hands into his lap. A single black casino chip lay on the desk where his hands had been.
Mykl opened his mouth to speak, but James abruptly rose. Without a word, he took determined strides over to the diamond clipper ship and stopped.
Shock pinned Mykl to his chair. This wasn’t the James he was familiar with. The posture. That was it. James stood at his full height, shoulders back, proud… like a man.
“This really is quite beautiful,” James said in a rich voice as he ran a finger along the ethereal rigging of the ship.
Mykl’s mouth hung open as he watched this unfamiliar person undo his crudely made tie and deftly retie it into a proper knot. For fourteen months Mykl had been James’s friend, had shared a room with him, had laughed with him, cried with him, and now… Now he didn’t know what to think of this—this stranger.
He looked back to see Jack’s reaction.
Jack was smiling. He picked up the casino chip and tossed it to James. “Welcome to the City, James,” he said.
James snipped the chip out of the air between his thumb and forefinger. “Thank you, sir. I see your people found one of my stashes?” He walked the chip across the back of his fingers like a card sharp.
“Indeed. And I would imagine,” Jack said, leaning his chair back and putting his feet on the desk, “that you have quite a story to tell.”
James blew a gust of air through his lips. “Nothing that compares to your story. Of that, I am certain. All I did was devise a way to get myself out of begging on the streets.”
“You’ve been faking!” Mykl finally overcame his shock and now boiled with righteous rage. He pointed at James’s shoes. “You—you tied all those knots on purpose!”
James burst into laughter. With no hint of his former clumsiness, he glided across the carpet to kneel and place a hand on Mykl’s shoulder. “You’re like a little brother, Mykl. I had to find ways to keep that brilliant mind of yours entertained in that abysmal Box.” He lowered his head to level his eyes with Mykl’s. “Forgive me, my friend?”
“You could have told me.” Mykl crossed his arms and looked away, not ready to give in yet.
“Lori was too clever and suspicious. She would have kicked me out if she had caught a whiff of my deception. Either that, or I would have been adopted. So I put on the act, and I buggered up my test results every year. I’m sorry I couldn’t be hones
t with you. I would have left on my own eventually… if it weren’t for Dawn. She’s very special to me. So are you, Mykl.”
“Dawn’s going to flip when she finds out,” Mykl said.
“Let me tell her? Please?” James asked.
Mykl raised his hands in surrender. “She’s all yours. I don’t want to be anywhere near her when she unleashes her wrath on you.” He wrapped his arms around James’s neck and squeezed. “Thanks for saving my life yesterday, big brother.”
“You’re very welcome.”
“James, how did you accumulate all of those casino chips?” Jack asked.
“Assisting foreign tourists, mostly.” James and Mykl retook their seats. “It helps if you can speak their language.”
“And how many languages do you speak?”
“Several. Japanese, all Chinese, French, German, Spanish, and a few others. The library was a wonderful place to learn… and casinos were a perfect place to practice.”
“What about those pages of dots you brought with you?”
“Those are my journal,” James said with a broad smile.
“How?” Mykl asked. “I looked at those stupid dots dozens of times and could never make anything out of them.”
“They’re private. I had to invent a new language and writing style to safeguard them. The way you plow through puzzles, I didn’t think it would be safe if you knew. And some of the pages I left on my desk for you to see were random dots, to throw you off. That and the knots seemed to distract you enough.”
“Ha! You’re fixing those knots yourself!” Mykl said, pointing at James’s shoes.
“You invented a language?” Jack asked.
“Sure. Kids do it to some extent all the time. I just made mine more complex.”
Jack looked contemplative. Mykl stared at James, amazed at how thoroughly he had been duped for over a year.
“How did you beat me on figuring square roots then?” Mykl asked.
“I cheated,” James confided with a lopsided smile.
Mykl threw him a pursed-lip scowl.
Delilah entered with a tray full of snacks and drinks. “Hungry, boys?”
“Please. Let me help you with that.” James stood to assist.
With a tight-lipped smile at Jack, Delilah relinquished the tray to James. “Looks like you are doing dishes tonight,” she said to her husband.
“I should know better than to bet against you, dear,” Jack said. To his guests, he explained, “Since we both knew of your secret, James, we had a bet as to whether or not you would out yourself after seeing the casino chip. I lost.”
“This is going to take some getting used to,” James said, setting the tray on the desk. “It’s like being dropped into Atlantis. Everyone here is so perceptive. I didn’t think I could maintain my ruse much longer anyway, and that chip proved it. The honest thing to do was be myself.”
“The mythical Atlantis was destroyed and lost to the world of man,” said Jack. “This ‘Atlantis’ is lying in wait for man to prove that he won’t destroy himself first. Then it will arise from the depths of the earth. You have some unique skills that could be of great use to me… if you are willing, James?”
“I can’t see how I could possibly refuse—but why would you be inclined to take me in after knowing the real me for only a few minutes?”
“Trust does have to be earned. But I would say that your actions, past and present, have more than proven your character to me.” Jack began checking points off with his fingers. “You stayed at the asylum to be with Dawn when you could have left and used your intelligence to be very successful in anything you chose. You saved the life of your friend from a determined psychopath. And when faced with a choice of reality or living a fantasy, you chose the former.” Jack lowered his hand. “Your code of values shows that you can be trusted.”
Jack shifted his attention back to Mykl. “You were about to say something before James took the floor?”
“Oh, well… I was just going to fess up to jumping on my bed this morning. Until James stole my thunder.”
“You were jumping on your bed?” Jack asked.
“Um… yeah,” Mykl answered in a small voice. He stared at his knees.
“Well, I’m sure the bed can handle it.”
Mykl’s head snapped up, his eyes wide in surprise. “I’m not in trouble then?”
“Of course not. I let my own son jump on the bed when he was your age. Just don’t get hurt, or Dr. Lee will be lecturing both of us,” Jack said with a mischievous grin.
“Speaking of Dr. Lee,” James said, “I would like to see how Dawn is doing. They performed some extra tests, and I want to make sure she’s okay. Do you mind if I pass on the tour for now?”
“I understand. And I’m sure Mykl will fill you in later,” Jack said. “Would you like a ride back?”
“I think I would rather walk and stretch my legs. It will give me a few minutes to prepare a defense for my actions.”
“Are you sure it’s not because you’re afraid of riding in a cart?” Mykl teased.
“Ha! I only have one fear now, and that certainly isn’t it.”
Mykl picked a sandwich off the tray and handed it to James. “Take this—you’re going to need your energy. If she reacts anything close to the way she did the last time we tried to play a trick on her, you’re as good as dead.”
CHAPTER 32
Mykl’s thoughts were spinning about in his brain so fast that he had trouble picking one. However, one pesky detail kept nagging at him; it had been doing so ever since he had first met Jack.
“Why me?”
Jack left his chair to come sit in the one James had vacated. “Mykl, the hardest part about running this facility isn’t developing technology, or even keeping it secret. It’s finding the right kind of people to keep it operating.”
“Trouble-prone five-year-olds who like ice cream?” Mykl arched an eyebrow.
Jack laughed. “You might be surprised at how closely that describes them. Acquiring adults who meet our standards has become exceedingly difficult. More so because of the need to change their identities and deal with their ties to society. Adopting bright children out of the asylums and orphanages of the world has proved to be a much better solution.”
Jack’s answer didn’t come close to satisfying Mykl’s question, but it was a start. There were many directions one could take to arrive at the complete truth.
“Last night you said this place works on solving world problems, and that you run it. That sounds like a monumental task to undertake in a tiny little office like this.” Mykl indicated the space with a sweep of his arm.
Jack tapped a complex pattern on the corner of his desk, and the room darkened. Then its surfaces came alive. The wall to Mykl’s left showed an ultra-high resolution map of the world, blazing with pulsing pictograms of light spanning the color spectrum. The wall to his right was checkered with live video feeds. Behind Jack’s desk, the wall displayed an immense three-dimensional image of the moon, full, bright, and slightly rotating. Mykl looked over his shoulder. Behind the couch, slightly obscured by the mantel with the ship, was an image of the earth as seen from space. Even the ceiling had changed, now depicting a star field, with colorful glowing icons to mark areas of obvious importance. Some flashed slowly, others danced in a pattern.
“Is that better?” Jack said.
Mykl’s eyes darted about. “I think ‘frightening’ might be a better word to describe it.”
He got off his chair and approached the giant Earth. Careful not to touch the wall—he anticipated the images would be interactive—he pointed at one of the icons in orbit about the planet. It looked like a bouquet of angry red balloons, and there were many such icons, not just on this wall, but on all of them, and on the ceiling. “What does this symbol represent?” he asked.
“A nuclear weapon of ninety-nine megatons or greater.”
Mykl withdrew his hand and pulled it protectively to his chest. He backed away from the arma
geddon of color, yet there was no escaping its presence, let alone the realization that thousands of these things orbited miles above in space. “Why?” he asked accusingly.
No longer the smiling, friendly man who had adopted him, Jack now took on the persona of “Jack the Ripper,” director of the City. His manner became sharp, precise, and cold, like a blade of truth taking human form.
“I did not put them there, Mykl. Decades-old treaties ban the proliferation of space-based weapons, yet world powers put them there anyway. The offending nations launched them under the guise of communication equipment, weather satellites, and exploratory probes, then gloated over their cleverness. Fortunately, only a handful of City operatives know of this terrible secret. If this ever became public knowledge, the world would be at war within a matter of hours. But I’m afraid it won’t take much longer for this secret to be discovered. Regardless of the tools at my disposal, the rapid advancement of detection technology will cause its exposure all too soon.
“My mandate is to provide solutions to issues like this—or to prevent them in the first place. I foresaw this problem when I took on this responsibility, but I lacked the technology or resources to prevent it. The politicians and generals in charge chose to ignore my warnings in favor of increasing their popularity and power bases.
“Yet now, with the technology this facility now possesses, I can render every one of those weapons inert from this very desk. You are now thinking: Why haven’t I done that already? The answer is simple: the moment one side realizes they have lost the ability to control those weapons, they will immediately assume that it was the other side that caused it—and we are once again at war. A war that does not have access to these particular weapons, but an ugly, devastating war nonetheless. I don’t have the ability to stop all attacks with my technology. New York learned that the hard way.”
Mykl had been oblivious to how fragile life on this world was until now. His problems in the Box seemed so simple and trivial in comparison. Cockroaches had been replaced with nukes. It appeared that neither pest could be easily eradicated. Shaking his head, he moped back to his chair.
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