Then Ranger spoke again. “It looks like he lured Jane to the holographic testing room, and used it to initiate some kind of combat scenario with her.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes. We’ve accessed the program logs now. The program did not exist in the system before the ship left the dock, so it looks like he planned this in advance.”
Marie picked up her pace, heading for the door. “Is he in—forget that, actually. Was Jane injured?”
“From the looks of it, Jane escaped without serious injury, although it was a close call. Lucas is unconscious.”
“Good. Do we have a fix on—”
There was a loud sound behind her—the sound of groaning metal. She turned around just in time to see a hatch on her right at the inner section of the ship explode upward into the air. She watched as it spun end over end, moving in a thin arc. It reached its apex quickly and then fell below the deck of the ship. She ran toward the railing once more to see it splash into the bubbling white foam below, disappearing beneath it. She turned around again to see a young man emerge from the access port that had been concealed by the hatch. It was Morris.
He placed his hands on either side of the surface and pulled himself up. Once he stood, he turned around and offered both hands below. A pair of hands grasped his from the darkness beneath, and then Jane appeared, rising up into the light. Ciara and Mike followed them closely.
Marie watched, unable to react in any way as they turned and looked at her. Then they turned toward the colossal device that occupied half of the sky above them. Immediately, their mouths opened in shock and surprise. Jane took Morris’s hand, and together, the four of them walked off the central platform from where they had emerged and stepped down onto the outer deck. They walked toward the railing slowly and grasped it without looking down.
Marie regarded them, her eyes shifting from one to the other. As of yet, Morris was the only one who had taken any notice of her, giving her only a perfunctory glance as he had stepped out onto the deck. She glanced toward the sky just as the last piece of the Machine moved into place beneath the other rings. There seemed to be twenty of them in total, although Marie didn’t fully trust her count.
Above them, the same tremendous groaning sound came once again as more of the ancient machinery came to life. The second ring began moving in a circular motion, and as it did, a thick, molten arc of electrical energy surged down through the center, snaking its way across the other rings. As she looked up, Marie could see the swirls of orange cloud, which were growing thicker. The remaining pieces of the Machine were still motionless, but she guessed it would only be a short time before they were activated too. Some of the larger ones she could make out clearly, but some were still totally obscured by the cloud-like substance that encircled the device with increasing velocity.
Jane turned and stared at Marie, not entirely sure what to think. In the woman’s body language, she sensed toughness, but also a new vulnerability. It appeared that she knew now that there was nothing she could do to imprison them.
“Don’t you think this was worth it, Jane?” Marie asked.
Jane found herself unable to answer in the negative, and instead, merely turned back to the sky, to the incredible swirling vortex and the growing light inside it. She marveled at the swirling clouds that looked like pictures she had seen of planets. The clouds of dust rolled over each other in streams, creating layers of varying color. From where they were positioned below the Machine, both sides of the vortex were visible—both inside and out—and there was an amazing contrast between the two sights.
The sky lit up even brighter this time as another, thicker arc of electricity erupted from the third ring near the top of the device. The blue lightning-like energy crawled its way across the ancient machinery, reaching out as though it had an intelligence of its own. Another shockwave washed down over them as the third ring came to life and began to move in a circular motion. So far, the rings were circling above and around each other in perfect, controlled patterns, but none of them were in contact with each other.
Jane turned back toward Marie, and the glow of the sun shone on her face. “Why did you bring me here?” she asked.
For a moment, Marie said nothing, and then she simply said, “Insurance.”
Though Jane thought she knew what Marie meant, she couldn’t be certain. The fact that Lucas had given her an identical answer previously caused a momentary, passing fear to grip her.
Once again, the cacophonous movements of the Machine above interrupted them as, one after another, the remaining sections of the ring system came to life, jolting into motion from top to bottom. A series of unearthly cracks—like muted thunder—boomed down over them as each piece of the complex Machine began to move.
Jane forgot Marie then—in fact, they all forgot each other—as the massive device commanded their attention completely. Giant branching arcs of electrical energy connected from one side of the Machine to the other, snaking their way up and down the interior of the vortex. At the very top, there was a growing, swirling, black mass now that was flowing and spinning and appeared to be almost liquid in nature.
The ring components began to pick up speed and twirl more quickly. Wind blasted down at them, and Jane raised her arm to shield her eyes as the motion generated a fierce breeze. The water, which had since grown mostly calm, now whipped up below into a vacuum, moved by the cyclonic force of the rings above. She looked beyond her arm just enough to see the swirling mass of cloud-like vapor that surrounded the Machine move faster now, at what seemed to Jane to be an impossible speed.
Jane’s attention was drawn to the roof of the vortex, hundreds of feet away, where the black mass of energy rushed in on itself, condensing into an infinitely small space. For a second, it disappeared, and out through the top of the vortex was the clear, blue sky. The only sound that could be heard from anywhere was the rushing sound of the tremendous Machine parts spinning around each other in an incredibly complex motion, like a perfectly coordinated dance.
Just half a second later, the infinitesimal point of energy exploded outward in a blaze of tremendous, wondrous light. There was no world then, only white, and Jane shut her eyes to the sound of gasping all around her as the others presumably did the same.
When she sensed the light was gone, she opened her eyes and looked up. It took her a moment to comprehend what she was seeing. At the very top of the vortex, which had previously been occupied by a black pool of mysterious energy, there now appeared to be the night sky of some other world. Jane squinted, trying to get a good look at it. There were striating patterns of stars strewn across the sky with incredible thickness in long, thin lines—elongated clusters.
“My God,” Marie said breathlessly as she took a step forward, grasping the handrail once again. “It’s another world!”
Jane looked at her and saw that her face was filled with awe. Her eyes were wide as she stared into the center of the vortex.
The Machine itself had become quieter now, and the rings moved in near silence; only the sound of a distant whirr could be heard as they moved around each other in flawless motion.
Jane heard footsteps behind her, and she turned to see men and women come from the control room inside. They stood well behind them, and one by one, as they looked up, their jaws dropped open in astonishment.
She turned back to face the vortex, and as she did, she saw it flicker. A ripple spread across its surface, like glass that had taken on liquid qualities. It flickered again, and then again. The image they were viewing through the vortex changed dramatically. A bright orange hue beamed down at them from inside the center.
Jane blinked rapidly as her eyes adjusted, and she struggled to understand exactly what she was seeing. A strange, flowing orange mass seemed to be moving across the surface of the window. She felt Marie’s trepidation beside her and looked at her, strangely, for validation of he
r own feelings. Jane found evidence of that very same emotion on Marie’s face.
It clicked into place too late as the magma poured through the open gate. Massive globs of hot molten rock began to drop down through the vortex. In unison, they ran from the railing as the first of these masses hit the ocean below. Immediately, the water exploded into steam, which spread out for hundreds of meters between the ships. They were only barely out of the path of the deadly volley of hot gas. A terrible hissing filled the air, and everyone on the deck covered their ears. Many people, Jane noticed, ran straight back into the safety of the control room.
For a moment, the magma continued to drop from the gateway, and then as Jane found the nerve to look up one more time, she saw the window flicker and the bright, molten world disappeared. After a few more seconds, the steam had almost completely dissipated. Jane looked at the surface of the ocean, where the water still bubbled from the sinking mass of cooling magma. But she had seen something tremendously beautiful inside the vortex—something she had immediately wanted to touch—and so she looked back up toward it now.
In the center of the window was a vast and beautiful galaxy. It filled it from one side to the other, and in her entire life, Jane had never seen anything so beautiful. It was a spectral dance of light, and billions of stars dotted it from one corner to the other. In its center, like an incredible, beaming jewel, there was a tremendous prominence of light. The primary color of the galaxy was blue, and there were streaks of red here and there. Many of the largest stars that dotted its perimeter were white or yellow.
Jane felt a hand grip her own. She knew it was Morris’s, and she squeezed back. No words were spoken between them as they stared up at the beautiful sight in awe.
The silence that had fallen among the crowd was broken by an incredible groaning sound from the Machine as one of the pieces near the center seemed to alter in its complex trajectory. Jane automatically knew that the rings were, in some sense, a puzzle. Of course, that was a terribly vague approximation of what they were, and she knew she would probably have very little hope of ever understanding how the system truly worked.
A terrible fear crept into her heart as the Machine groaned once more. The window at the top of the vortex flickered again, more dramatically this time. Jane shook her head slowly as the image of the galaxy faded and was replaced by the black, pulsating vortex that had previously occupied that space. Again, the Machine groaned. Jane glanced down toward the railing as it began to rattle beneath her palms, despite its sturdy construction.
“Ranger, report!” Marie shouted next to her.
Jane looked at her to see her staring at the Machine with a concerned expression on her face.
“What do you mean, powering down?” Marie asked into her earpiece.
Further on Jane’s right, she saw a man appear in the doorway.
“The energy readings are dropping. It seems to be some kind of automatic shutdown sequence,” the man in the doorway said.
“Why?” Marie asked, yelling at him across the thirty-foot distance to the door.
“No idea,” he said flippantly. Apparently, the man was beyond caring at that point.
Jane glanced up at the Machine one more time. Again, the black swirling mass of energy disappeared, and this time she could see into a strange prehistoric environment. Dinosaur-like creatures roamed about in the foreground, with their giant, elongated necks reaching toward the sky. In the background, there was a vast volcano that appeared to be active, as smoke billowed from its peak.
The image of that world only remained for a mere five seconds before the window flickered once more and the black vortex of swirling energy appeared once again. Jane preempted the danger before it came, and she found her hand rising up to protect herself as the shockwaves began. There was a pulse at the center of the black mass of energy, and then it exploded outward. It reached the edge of the vortex in less than a second, and she watched in growing shock as it raced its way down the inside of the swirling mass, rippling through the cloud of dust as it did.
The shockwave hit the water, and it felt as though a hard mass had impacted her body. She was lifted off her feet, her hands grasping at the railing in futility. If it weren’t for Morris, she would have fallen and surely injured herself. She felt his strong hands around her torso. A streak of pain shot through her rib cage, but she took a breath and managed to ignore it.
She heard people fall on the deck behind her, and to her left, she saw that Mike and Ciara had been knocked off their feet and were now struggling to stand up. Jane and Morris leaned down to help them.
Jane turned and looked back up at the device. From within it, she once again heard tremendous groaning sounds, which began to resound around them. The sounds coming from the Machine took on a more ominous tone, and Jane could tell that something was seriously wrong with it. It was at that moment that she began to feel the device pulling at her thoughts, though it was just beneath her awareness, and so, she did not act on it.
“Ranger, report!” Marie yelled.
Jane looked to her side to see Marie—a furious expression on her face—holding her hand to her ear and yelling into her earpiece. The man who had previously appeared in the doorway, the one Jane presumed was named Ranger, had disappeared, apparently having returned to the control room.
“What do you mean, we’re losing the connection? Ranger? Hello?” She turned and looked toward the open door that led to the interior of the ship. She began walking toward it when the same man once again appeared in the doorway with a terrified expression.
He didn’t speak for a moment and merely stared at her. “All communications are down. There’s too much interference. I can’t tell what’s happening. The last readings I had indicated tremendous instability. It may have detected the artificial nature of the signal.”
“Boost the output.”
“It’s already at maximum. I suggest we retreat to—”
He was cut off as another terrible droning sound filled the entire sky. Jane looked up, automatically taking a step back and reaching for Morris. She found his torso and grasped his shirt. He, in turn, placed his hand around her waist, pulling her to him, and she relished the comfort the warmth of his body brought her.
The black mass at the top of the vortex flashed once and then disappeared entirely. When looking up at the very top, Jane could see the clear sky. Wind blasted down over them, and the whirring sound of the rings grew in intensity.
Another large arc of blue electrical energy appeared near the top, where the window to the other worlds had been. It stretched from one side of the tower to the other, connecting to one of the other rings on the opposite side. More arcs struck out from below and reached upward. These connected and formed a mesh of electrical energy, which began to move down the Machine toward where they were standing. A tremendous ripping sound filled the air, drowning out the sound of the groaning that the rings were already making as this mass of blue light approached the bottom rings. Then, as it reached the last ring section, a streak of blue lightning ripped away from the central point and impacted the ship near to where they were standing.
Jane jumped backward, keeping her eyes on the railings as they were covered with dangerous electrical energy. It coursed down the side of the ship, and Jane heard what sounded like explosions. The ship rocked violently. Near the front of the vessel, where the thick arc of electrical energy had struck, a barrage of debris flew upward. Some of it fell toward the ocean, and some of it crashed down onto the front of the deck, just out of their field of view. Smoke began to billow from there.
Looking up once again, Jane saw that the rings, in their oddly imperfect but coordinated motion, had slowed down. Her eyes grew wide in astonishment, and she gripped Morris’s hand tightly as he drew even closer. Ciara and Mike stood next to them, and they each exchanged bewildered glances.
“What’s it doing now?” Mike asked.
Jane merely shoo
k her head.
“No idea,” Morris said.
Jane gave Marie a quick glance and saw that her hand had covered her mouth in shock. Then Jane looked back up at the rings as the vortex began to slow down in its motion. She watched in fear as the bottom ring section turned back toward the water below. It took her only a few seconds to realize that it wasn’t actually altering its orientation; it was, in fact, falling back into the ocean.
“It’s falling!” Marie yelled. “Everyone get back. GET BACK NOW!” she screamed as she turned and ran toward them, continuing on past them.
Once again, something distant and unknown pulled at Jane, and this time, it hooked into her mind and wouldn’t let go.
Morris looked at Mike, who was standing on his left. Mike nodded at him. He returned the gesture and turned to run with him and Ciara, who were already backing away rapidly. His arm was torn from Jane’s grasp as he moved. He had expected her to move with him, but her hand was frozen solid like a statue. He grimaced and turned to her. For a moment, he wasn’t sure what to do. Fear gripped him, and he watched as Jane took a step toward the edge of the deck.
“JANE!” he screamed.
She took another step. Glancing upward, Morris could see that the entire structure was coming down. Whatever invisible energies had held the rings together were no longer working, and now they were falling headlong into the ocean. His heart beat rapidly in his chest, for he could only imagine the chaos that would ensue when those massive objects once again crashed down into the sea.
He ran forward toward her, despite the fact that all his senses were telling him to flee. He had intended to grab her arm but was shocked to find that as he did, his fingers would not lock around her. He looked at his hand. It was enfolding her arm, but unfixed on it—held just slightly off it. He glanced at the side of her face, where light appeared to be shooting from her eyes, just as he felt the energy flow from her body. He was lifted off his feet and watched in shock as she receded from him and he was thrown backward across the deck. He landed ten feet away, rolled over, and looked up, ignoring the pain that shot through his torso, knowing it would prove to be temporary.
Rise (The Ethereal Vision Book 2) Page 21
