by Nick Thacker
It was too late — there was no way to get it and still escape alive — the room was caving in, and most of the floor was flooded with lava pushed up from underground.
The opening in the floor grew wider, and the crystal fell through a crack in the top of the capstone.
He lunged for it, but it was no use.
The crystal disappeared, and Vilocek scrambled over the rubble to see where it had landed.
It was on a ledge about fifty feet down, safely perched above the flow of lava.
A sudden flash of light shone from the crystal and the room quaked violently. Vilocek lost his balance, falling headfirst into the rift.
His head slammed against a rock, knocking him unconscious.
He landed in a contorted position, on the floor of the newly formed pit. The earth continued to shake around him and the cliff faces fell inward on each other, trapping him in a deep pit. The only way out was fifty feet straight up.
CHAPTER 71
2:19 PM
TANNING VILOCEK looked up the shaft, an almost perfectly formed cylindrical tube pointing directly up to the surface. He had done it.
He, Dr. Tanning Vilocek, had found the original pure form of the uranium-crystal material. Down at his feet, the pyramid-shaped object glistened with a blue-silver hue that made it look as if it was filled with water. It was so small — so unassuming — for the powers it held within.
The effects of the bond would be similar to those he'd seen numerous times in the lab. The two elemental materials would stretch and then implode together, colliding into a dust that would hang in the air for a moment. The dust's particles from the experiments in his lab had provided a fleeting flash of light that would encompass any organism nearby in temporary lucidity — a "beacon," of sorts — that would allow the subject to experience an unbelievable "awakening" of the mind. As quickly as the experience would begin, it would die out, leaving the subject unharmed but — to their dismay — unchanged.
But not this device. Tanning knew that this object at his feet would react over one-thousand times more powerfully than the small amounts of crystal-uranium in his labs. This pyramid of crystal would provide him that superior knowledge and intelligence, but for a lasting amount of time. He would be able to wield the power of that knowledge like the high priests before him--lording over the rest of the world as a god.
Perhaps, even, as God himself.
Tanning hurriedly slipped the small vial of liquid from his pocket and untwisted the cap.
This was his calling. This moment was the moment that would define — no, redefine — him. He was about to inherit the knowledge of the ancients — and nothing was left to stop him. Standing above the crystal stone, looking upon it in fascination, he turned the vial and let its contents pour out. They seemed to fall in slow motion toward the rock floor of the small cavern.
Finally, the vial's liquid made contact with the tip of the small pyramid on the ground. The sound in his ears was no more enlightening than a cup of water being poured onto a rock, and yet he knew it was life-changing sound. And here we go, he thought. In a few seconds the crystal would begin to react with the liquid and the transformation — his transformation — would take place.
The liquid fell down the sides of the pyramid, almost completely covering its four faces. The clear glass vial he held in his hand became empty as the final drops ran out of the tube. He watched in slow motion as the fluid ran to the base of the crystal, and then in an instant, the entire pyramid was completely covered.
A blinding light arose from the crystal’s center that grew to fill the small space Vilocek was in. He grew even more excited, even more impatient. The light became too overbearing for his eyes, and he sensed a humming sound in the back of his mind as the ancient power source awakened. Finally, the light and sound grew to an almost unbelievable level, and had he not been holding the vial by his side, he would have felt compelled to cover his ears. His skin felt prickly, almost as if he was burning from the inside. The hair on his body rose, as if stuck in a field of static electricity. Vilocek wondered if something had gone wrong.
At that instant, almost as if reading his mind, the power source went completely dark for a split second — completely silent — and then Tanning Vilocek’s world exploded in light.
The pyramidal power source suddenly emitted a bathing glow that encapsulated Vilocek in a constant warm light, like being directly in front of an overhead projector the moment the on switch was flipped. His eyes didn’t have time to adjust to the light, but his mind immediately responded to the powerful emission, and his enlightenment began.
Tanning saw the entire history of the world, laid out in front of him like a chronological timeline of events — every moment of every day that had passed on the earth. He saw the rise and fall of great civilizations, and knew the reasons for their successes and eventual collapse. Thousands of years of human history flashed before him and long-lost secrets and mysteries were revealed.
The location of the Library of Alexandria.
The building of Stonehenge, The Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
He saw Eve in the original Garden.
He watched the rise of the Atlantis civilization, and the creation of the power source he now controlled, and their horrible fall and self-destruction.
He saw each and every written document crafted by the hand of man — understanding all of them, no matter what language.
And it had only been one one-thousandth of a second.
Tanning’s mind slowed to a crawl as the endless and thorough knowledge of the ages was made aware to him. He took it in and relished each piece of information as it appeared. It was hard to explain, this knowledge. It was not like coming to grasp with something one might read — this knowledge; this ancient intelligence — was as perfectly clear and immediately recognizable to him as a color or shape or smell. The full effect of the crystal’s awesome power was overwhelming and unbelievable beyond his wildest dreams.
Armed with this power source, Tanning would return to the modern world a prophet — a superhuman being, as omniscient and omnipotent as God himself. People would put their faith in him, and they would follow him.
They would fight for him.
As each of these thoughts would enter his mind, the answers and solutions to problems he hadn’t even considered made themselves clear — how he would rule over the earth; how he would conquer each enemy that would stand in his way.
All he needed to do was return to the world and begin his succession to the throne of Man.
But the source of power at his feet continued to grow and burn its great knowledge into his mind. The neurons and pathways of his brain were lit up and downloading incredible streams of data every second, and his mind was completely entranced by the emission of light, and yet the rest of his body seemed asleep.
Or paralyzed, to be more precise.
He couldn’t budge. His feet were locked in place, and the vial he had held in his hand had apparently fallen to the ground at some point. He tried to blink — to will himself to move — but to avail.
He suddenly wished there was a way to turn off the pyramid’s light. He had only been in its presence for five seconds, but the overwhelming amount of information and knowledge he possessed had overtaken his mind’s ability to function as a command center for his body.
Tanning was trapped in the gaze of this power source, and nothing he could do would release him.
His face burned, and the tickling sensation on his body returned, slowly at first, then building to a crescendo of fire underneath his skin. He wanted to scream — to respond physically in some way, but he no longer had the space in his brain to give his muscles orders. The power source was throbbing now — or maybe his eyes were. His vision blurred and sharpened intermittently, pulsating with the beating of his heart. A pressure began to build from the back of his neck, growing larger and encompassing more and more of his head with each passing moment.
; The fiery feeling underneath his skin sent signals to his brain that he could do nothing about. He wanted to drop to his stomach and roll around, attempting to put out the fires that he was standing in. He could feel the hair on his arms; on the back of his neck, heating and smoking. The blood coursing through his now-defunct body reached a boiling heat, and although he couldn’t move his head down to see, the skin on his body bubbled and even burst in spots, the internal pressure and heat building to an uncontrollable level. The throbbing in his eyes become too much, and his vision turned into a fading blur.
It had taken him all of half a second to create every possible scenario and outcome in the limitless computational power of his brain, but each led him to the same result: this hell of knowledge would consume him. More and more information and knowledge entered his brain, and by now his body was a living hell — most of his internal structure had been heated to a point just below combustion, and some of his organs — spleen, appendix — had burst. The pain was unreal and unbelievable, but somehow it still registered in his mind.
The more the knowledge poured into him — transmitted from the ancient power source — the slower his world became, and the more agonizingly drawn-out his destruction became. His clothes finally caught fire and his eyes, no longer able to provide sight, finally burst outward. The remainder of his skin, bleeding and cauterized, melted and oozed from him like an oily clay.
His last realization was also immediate and complete: he understood that this device, one created by man, was inevitably created imperfectly. As man was created from His perfect image, so too will be this device, from the image of perfect power and knowledge. Man was created; beautiful, and yet flawed from our own falling. This power source was merely an image of power, an image of what the ancients believed to be God’s omniscience. But it was created by man.
It was imperfect.
And so was he.
CHAPTER 72
1:32 PM
THE EARTHQUAKES and tremors caused by the unstable breakdown of the crystal, though still gently rocking under their feet, had temporarily subsided. Throughout the trip back up the passageway, through the city, and out of the underground cavern, Bryce, Wayne, Cole, and Corinne could feel the island slowly breaking apart. It was as if enormous hands, deep below them, were stretching the island and tearing it apart. The groans and creaks of the cavern system, desperately trying to remain sturdy, called out to each other during the team’s ascent. The hollow-sounding cries of twisting and popping rock, rising from below them in the dark, hurried them along through the passageways and rock-cut tunnels.
Finally they saw sunlight peeking from around a corner in the cave. They picked up their pace, eager to leave the haunting caves and ancient city.
Three hours had passed since they’d entered the cave. Another fifteen minutes of jogging and they’d reach the island’s airstrip and their ride home.
About ten minutes later, Bryce halted.
“What’s up?” Corinne asked. She was holding Cole’s arm as they ran; while he was almost back to normal after being freed from the grasp of the crystal’s glow, he still had clammy hands and seemed cold. His voice had returned to normal, and most of the color had returned to his face.
They peered over the small rise where Bryce had stopped. Looking down to the city and beyond, they could just make out the airstrip and the small hangars that dotted the beach leading to the ocean.
“See that?” he said. “Looks like smoke.”
“Coming from that hangar,” Wayne added.
They knew what it meant.
“Shit — let’s go.” Bryce sighed and unstrapped his rifle from his back. He tightened his pack and started to run toward the city.
1:47 pm.
They reached the hangar and knew immediately that there was something wrong. The smoke was wrong — it smelled of explosives. They stopped around the corner when they saw a large black helicopter parked directly in their path.
The helicopter was out of place on the overgrown airfield — a perfectly shined, freshly painted mechanical vehicle, its rotor still spinning.
“Whittenfield!” Wayne yelled. A man appeared at the door of the helicopter and stepped out onto the tarmac. Behind him, the black smoke billowed out and up into the air, mixing with the pouring smoke of the volcano to the north. A second man stepped out of the helicopter behind Whittenfield.
“Captain Reynolds, it’s good to see you again! You know, we haven’t been able to get a feed from your shoulder cam for quite awhile,” he said as the team approached.
Bryce kept his grip on his rifle tight and prepared. Something didn’t seem right.
“There’s not much reception under volcanos,” he answered.
“Not a problem. I’m sure you’ve made the anticipation worthwhile,” Whittenfield said. He glanced at Bryce’s pack, then to the rest of the group. “Are you — the only ones?”
“Yes — Vilocek, his team, everyone — they didn’t make it.”
His eyes sabotaged his frown and feigned concern. “That’s unfortunate. I was hoping he’d be an asset to our team. No matter.“ He quickly changed the subject, “Bryce — do you have it?”
Bryce looked at his benefactor. He thought of the previous day; of his conversations with this man.
“What happened to the plane?” Wayne asked from Bryce’s right side.
Whittenfield seemed confused at first, then annoyed. “What? Oh, that one?” He pointed behind him to the hangar. “You know, we just got here — must have been Vilocek’s men.” And then, looking back to Bryce, his impatience grew. “Bryce? Well? Do you have it?”
“No.”
Whittenfield’s jaw tightened. His teeth clenched as he continued. “Well, I see — that’s interesting. Did you at least get a good look at it?”
“No.”
Whittenfield inhaled a sharp breath and looked toward Cole, then Corinne. “That’s fine. That’s just fine.” He smiled. “Thankfully, Vilocek has left us with one more piece of this puzzle.”
Now it was Bryce’s turn to be confused.
A gentle earthquake rumbled. The helicopter lurched on the runway, and Wayne almost fell to the ground. Cole helped Corinne regain her balance.
“Whittenfield, we need to go. The crystal — it’s — “
“Breaking down, yes — I know.”
He stepped closer to the helicopter. The second man still hadn’t spoken, standing at attention by Whittenfield’s side.
He was dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, but Bryce could see the taught lines of a hardened body beneath the street clothes — this man came ready for business.
“Stop. Cole, Corinne — get in. Captain Reynolds and I have some business to take care of.”
Bryce nodded. The two civilians walked toward the chopper and the second man jumped down to grab them. The helicopter’s rotor began to spin faster, and the noise of the aircraft grew to a low roar.
As Corinne walked by Whittenfield he reached out and grabbed her shoulder. “I don’t believe we’ve met, young lady,” he said to the girl. As he spoke, he reached into his belt behind his back and withdrew a pistol.
Still keeping his eyes on Bryce and Wayne, he backed toward the chopper with the gun placed close to Corinne’s head. “Cole! Get in. Don’t make me tell you twice!” Cole hesitantly obliged, turning and jumping into the helicopter. The other man drew a machine pistol from behind his back.
“Whittenfield, what’s this about?” Bryce asked. “I told you — we don’t have the crystal!”
“And you don’t need to! I realized after poking around at Vilocorp that Tanning was on to something. You see, the crystal’s materials exist only in that stone. There’s nothing on Earth that can replace it — but we can get close!”
“What do you mean, get close?” Wayne asked. He stood next to Bryce with his eyes on Whittenfield.
“Whatever was injected into Cole’s bloodstream has almost the same makeup as the crystal, right? It means we can work
backwards — using Cole as the crystal — to see just what it is that makes that rock tick. Since you’ve failed to deliver the stone to me, you’ve left me no choice but to continue the laboratory work at a much slower rate — but we will succeed.”
“It’s inevitable, really. Scientific advances continue to uncover the real mysteries of the world around us.” He chuckled. “Wasn’t it only within the last five-hundred years that we’ve come to understand that the earth was round?”
Bryce stared at the man. He knew Whittenfield had been blinded by greed — this treasure hunt had even blinded Bryce to the his benefactor’s true goal.
“I believe that with the combined efforts of my team and Mr. Reed, we can expect to release an analysis of the material’s composition within a year.” He looked back to Cole. “All we’ll need, of course, is the test subject.”
Bryce’s mind flashed back to the video feed he’d seen of the room, back at Vilocorp.
The young boy, no more than twelve years old, strapped to the table.
He knew what Whittenfield intended to do with Cole Reed.
1:52 pm.
Corinne was watching the exchange with a troubled expression. She hadn’t seen the result of the experimentations in the New Mexico lab, but she still remembered the screams and horrifying sounds coming from the upstairs labs while she was at Vilocorp.
Whatever Whittenfield was intending to do with Cole, she knew it wasn’t going to be pretty. She decided to act.
She threw her elbow into Whittenfield’s side and simultaneously stepped with the heel of her right foot onto the top of his left. He moaned in pain, and dropped the gun.
He fired a wide shot, clipping Bryce’s shoulder. Bryce fell to his knees, grabbing at his wound while aiming his rifle at Whittenfield with his injured arm.
Wayne jumped into action as well. He swiveled his gun around but noticed that Corinne was still in his shot — Whittenfield had his hand tightly gripped around her arm.
The second man, however, was not being blocked by anyone else. He was busy trying to help Whittenfield — Wayne lifted the gun and fired two quick rounds. The man fell to the ground outside the helicopter.
