The Skywalkers: A Thriller (A Rossler Foundation Mystery Book 5)

by JC Ryan

  This brought up Daniel’s next prepared point. Why not just go in and seal the whole facility off? Pump it full of concrete, put a fence around it and guard it so no one could ever get into it again? But they come to conclusion we would never be safe; everyone would forever want to get in and get their hands on it. Every bad guy and every government would want that thing. Even our own government wouldn’t leave it like that. No, it had to be destroyed – there was no other way.

  Sarah brought up the next point, the beast couldn’t be connected any longer to the “birds” in the sky. If it relied on those to kill, maybe it wasn’t even a problem. Surely by now, after more than 50,000 years, any satellite would have burned out and dropped back to earth or disappeared into space.

  Raj had a different opinion. ”Haven’t you guys ever heard of the Black Knight?” he asked. Incredulous when no one admitted to having heard of it, he went on. “That could easily be one of those “birds” that survived from the Eighth Cycle.” He went on, explaining that there was an object of some sort orbiting the earth that no government had claimed or could identify. It was something to consider possible even if the chances were remote - it could be a survivor of Eighth Cycle times.

  In the face of skepticism from the others, Raj stood his ground. He was used to the ridicule that sometimes accompanied his obsession with the unexplained.

  When the others stated with certainty that it couldn’t still be operational after all this time, he retorted. “If it doesn’t work now, it doesn’t mean it can’t be reactivated by whomever owns it. And why wouldn’t it work now? The elevators and ventilation system do. So, even if it can’t kill the world population, it might very well still be able to kill whomever walks into that room and tampers with it.”

  In the end, Raj prevailed. They had to assume the beast could potentially trigger some unknown device (perhaps the Black Knight) in the sky that had survived for more than 50,000 years and start wiping out people again as it did the last time it was operational. However remote a chance that might happen. So it became problem number five. Daniel still had a couple more for discussion.

  Why not take this to the government and let them deal with it?

  Raj was the first to object. “How would we know they have destroyed it and have not kept it for the exact same purposes as the Council of The Selected have? Do you trust the government with that? Can you imagine what power they will have in their hands if they find out about this? They can control the world – get rid of anyone, terrorists, bad guys, good guys, everyone. No, don’t trust the government.”

  Of course, his distrust of the government and paranoia were well-known to the group, and might not have carried much weight, if Salome hadn’t seconded his opinion. As before, they concluded JR had been right when he said at the beginning, “You’ll see, we will have to do it.” No one else can be trusted.

  And that brought them full circle, as if the intervening weeks had never happened. Finally the question everyone had been avoiding had to be posed. Who will go and do it? Daniel never expected the havoc he caused when he put the question on the table, though.

  JR answered right away. “I am going. I have to go. I’ve led all expeditions since Antarctica, and this thing will not get done without me.”

  Daniel shot up from the table. “Absolutely not! You are not going anywhere near that place again. We’ve already risked your life too many times. Let someone else do it.”

  JR balled his fists. “You’ve got to be kidding! You would have me stay safely at home while someone else does my job? Over my dead body.”

  Daniel was the older brother, but JR had him by six inches and a wealth of combat training. Even so, it would have descended into a brawl if Rebecca and Sarah hadn’t cried out and Sinclair and Robert hadn’t each grabbed a would-be combatant from behind.

  “All right,” Daniel backed down, breathing heavily. “If you insist on going, then I’m going, too. You’re my responsibility.”

  He hadn’t counted on the women joining the fray. Sarah said, with outward calm, that she might as well kill Daniel right now on the spot and save him the trouble of going to the canyon to die there. At least she would then be with him when he died. Her certainty of doom made Rebecca lose her composure and burst into tears. Through her sobs, she threatened to inject JR with some paralyzing poison or give him a good dose of laxative to make sure he couldn’t leave their home.

  By the time Sinclair had managed to restore calm, Roy had thought it over. “I obviously will be going as well. None of you know how to operate my equipment.” Salome, caught by surprise, pulled out her gun and threatened to shoot him in the leg so he couldn’t go either. This dramatic announcement was met by derisive laughter from Luke, who advised her to put the gun away before she shot the wrong person by accident.

  “He’s right. And by the same token, I am going as well,” said Raj. No one can operate my computer equipment either, and even if they could, I wouldn’t allow it. You will need the sound file extracted before anyone can translate it, so I have to be there.” To defuse the tense situation, he added, ”If I am not at work tomorrow morning then know that Sushma has crippled or killed me – but if I am still alive and here tomorrow morning then I am going.”

  Even Sarah, Rebecca and Salome had to laugh at that, and at their hysterical responses to the decisions their men had come to. Of course, they were right. It was up to them, as JR said, and they wouldn’t be the men they were if they sent someone else to do a dangerous job.

  After the laughter subsided, Joseph chimed in. “Luckily my wife is not here to try and cripple or kill me. I will go to do the translation. Better me than my young relatives, and no one else can do the translation.”

  As one of the few who hadn’t yet spoken, Sinclair opened his mouth and got a few words out to the effect that he had to go with these youngsters to keep a watch over them because it was obvious they couldn’t behave. Before he finished, everyone else in the room, as if they have practiced it, said at the same time in one voice, “No Sinclair, you stay!” Sinclair tried to argue, but the rest of them make it clear he was not going and that was the end of it. If he had any further arguments they threatened to get Martha and bring her in to sort it out. Sinclair knew better than to take his chances with the lovely Martha.

  Luke didn’t even try. He knew it was a young man’s job, and though he would have taken the burden on himself before risking these ‘kids’ who’d become his extended family, the greater good required those with the best chance of succeeding to go instead.

  This left only Robert. After all the chaos, he cleared his throat and said, “I have been trying to say something now for the last fifteen minutes. I am just letting you all know I am going as well. I have been on each and every expedition the Rossler Foundation has launched and I have been there at the Canyon site from the very beginning. I don’t know how I’ll help, but I’m going.” With a significant look at the women present, he continued, “I have no wife or girlfriend to threaten me, so I am going.” To no one’s surprise, no objection was raised.

  The final straw, though, was Rebecca. Once she got over her tears and thought about it, she announced, “Listen up boys. I am going as well. If JR goes, I go. Besides, if there is any chance anyone might get injured or sick or poisoned or whatever the beast can inflict on you, you will have a better chance to survive if there is a doctor at hand.”

  At first, JR was stunned. By the time he realized what she was saying, he had his argument ready. “No you aren’t. This is the most dangerous thing we’ve ever done, and we can’t predict the outcome.”

  Rebecca lifted her chin to stare her husband in the eye, even if she had to climb on a chair to do it. “Yes. I. Am.”

  With that, JR jumped up and walked over to Salome demanding to have her gun. “Just for one second. I want to shoot my wife in the leg as well, so she can’t go! Your gun and just one bullet please! And if you don’t give me that gun I will go and get a knife and stab her in the leg.”
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  The old, combative JR would have taken on the whole room when they began laughing. However, he had to see the humor in his ridiculous statement. But, his argument was reinforced when everyone teamed up against Rebecca and “persuaded” her not to go. Still, to say the least she was not a happy doctor.

  ***

  With everyone exhausted from the commotion, Daniel adjourned the meeting for the day and called Brideaux with a report about their decisions. Everyone else had assignments and were even now making preparations to leave in five days.

  To Daniel’s surprise, Brideaux began to suggest potential travel arrangements, but kept referring to “us”. After several such references, Daniel had to clarify. “John, you keep saying ‘us’. Surely you are not thinking of going?”

  “You were not seriously thinking to leave me behind were you?” Brideaux replied. “Of course I am going. I have been funding this and in the buck stops with me. Through my researcher’s discovery, I am responsible and I need to clean it up.”

  Daniel couldn’t take any more of these “I am going” arguments and the threats that followed them. He just quietly accepted that Brideaux would be going with them.

  Brideaux’s also very kindly suggested that Daniel leave behind at the Foundation headquarters the secure satellite phone he gave him earlier. He will give them another handset when he meets them in Flagstaff. This was so they could have the ability to talk to their people on a secure connection while they were on site.

  Chapter 38 - Goodbye my friends

  The next morning, a new crisis took Daniel's attention when he had to rush to the hospital. Bess called and told him Nicholas had taken a turn for the worse early that morning, and this time it looked bad.

  Sarah met him there. Daniel kissed Sarah, smiled at little Nick, and told Sarah she'd better keep him out until he knew Grandpa's condition. Then he rushed to the room, anxious to be there for Grandma if the news was as bad as it sounded. He found her peering into the window of an ICU room. Grandpa was inside; at least Daniel assumed it was Grandpa. It was hard to tell, since the bed was surrounded by monitoring equipment and several people.

  "Doctors?" he asked, after kissing Grandma on the cheek.

  "I'm not sure. One of those alarms went off and they all hustled in and pushed me out," she said.

  "Was he sleeping, before, or what?"

  "It was strange, Daniel. He was asleep, and then he woke up. His eyes went big, and then the alarm went off."

  Oh no, Daniel thought. His chest tightened and tears threatened. With all his heart, he wanted to barge in and sweep the doctors away, just so he could give the old man a hug. Instead, he put his arm around Grandma and pulled her to his side. "He'll be okay, Grandma. He has to be."

  Bess put her arm around his waist. "I know. I can't imagine life without him. Do you think we ought to call your dad?"

  "Yeah, Grandma. He'd be upset if we didn't. We told him not to come the first time, but I think he'll want to now that it's happened again."

  "You're right. It looks like they're going to be a while in there. I'll go outside and call now." For the first time, Daniel noticed all the "No Cell Phones" signs.

  "I'll go with you and update Sarah. She's downstairs with Nick."

  "Oh, Daniel, you should send her home. This is no place for kids, and they won't let them into the ICU."

  "Okay. She'll want to see him though. I'll wait with Nick while she comes up. She loves him too, you know."

  "I do know, and he loves her, too. I'll see you back here in half an hour?"

  "Okay. Love you, Grandma."

  Daniel sent Sarah to look in on Grandpa, while he took little Nick on his knee and explained that Grandpa was too sick to play and that's why he couldn't go. Sarah came to them, her face drawn with grief. "I don't know if he'll come back from this one, Daniel."

  "He will. He's too tough to go, you watch." Daniel would never admit that he, too, was worried. More worried than the first time.

  ***

  It was several hours before Daniel and Bess had any news from the doctors, but by then Ben, Nancy and Aaron were on their way. To their astonishment, when the doctor did come to speak with them, he said he’d never seen anything like this. Nicholas had suffered a stroke so massive it should have killed him. But miraculously, Nicholas had rallied and was asking to see Bess and Daniel. Grandmother and grandson looked at each other in shock. Could this be possible, or were they having a shared dream?

  The doctor continued, “Don’t stress him or say anything to make him uncomfortable. I don’t know how he survived that stroke, but I believe it’s only a small reprieve. Given the medical history, another one is almost certain. It’s unlikely he will survive another, even a small one. You should prepare yourselves.”

  Bess stifled a sob and made a visible effort to pull herself together. With Daniel’s arm around her for support, she gave the doctor her word that Nicholas wouldn’t know of her distress. He nodded and admitted the two of them to the ICU room.

  At their entrance, Nicholas opened his eyes. When his glance fell on his beloved Bess, he smiled and said in a thready voice, “You thought I would leave without saying goodbye?”

  Bess gave her sturdy answer. “No, my love. I knew you wouldn’t do that to me.” She couldn’t say more; there was no hope to give him and she wouldn’t lie. Neither would she betray the doctor’s trust. It didn’t matter. Nicholas knew.

  He smiled again, before saying in surprisingly clear words, “I know I don’t have much time. I have made a deal with God that I will be happy to go as soon as I can say goodbye to you all.”

  The doctor had come in quietly and heard Nicholas’s wishes as he said he wanted his son Ben and daughter-in-law Nancy, along with his grandchildren Daniel and Sarah, JR and Rebecca and Aaron to come to him. Also his great grandson who carries his name, his best friend Sinclair and Sinclair’s wife Martha. Finally, though they weren’t family, he wanted Raj, Luke and also Roy and Salome to all come to him. So many, and people who weren’t family it was against hospital policy, but the doctor was inclined to grant this final wish.

  Nicholas continued, “So what are you two waiting for? Go get them all. I am not going anywhere, but I can’t wait forever. I have an appointment to keep!”

  The doctor and nurse standing there at his bed with them were shaking their heads in wonder. They had never seen anything like this. As Bess and Daniel scurried from the room to carry out his orders, it was really as if God was giving him time to say goodbye – there was no other explanation. He shouldn’t even be able to talk after that stroke. How on earth he could be so clear and strong defied all medical logic and experience. It’s just not humanly possible as far as they were concerned. With his family gone for the moment, the doctor decided to keep vigil with the old man. He’d be surprised if they made it back with half the people Nicholas had requested before he suffered his final stroke.

  By the time they returned, four hours had passed, and the old man had grown weaker. Somehow Ben, Nancy and Aaron had made it there, though Aaron had to take a separate flight since all were nearly full and none had three seats. Sarah had picked them up in Denver and then raced back to Boulder, certain they’d be too late.

  Daniel had called in Raj, Luke, Roy and Salome, while Bess went in person to Sinclair and Martha and returned with them in their car. It was too large a crowd in the small room, and by now Nicholas was too weak to make himself heard. Bess leaned over him with her ear to his mouth and relayed the messages he had for them. One by one, she called in each couple or individual that he requested. To each, Bess conveyed his thanks for their friendship and loyalty to his family, especially his grandchildren. He wished them lives as long and happy as his had been with Bess, and whispered a goodbye. Each touched him briefly through his blankets, and each left with tears in their eyes. It was the end of an era, and with everything else going on, it felt like the end of the world.

  Sinclair and Martha were the last who weren’t family. Martha had Be
ss let her give Nicholas a hug, and then she gave one to Bess as well. The two old friends had one more laugh about the time they got so drunk when they discovered that time travel thing and agreed they will always have good memories of their time together. Sinclair promised to come looking for Nicholas in Heaven when it was his turn to arrive, and to bring a bottle of their favorite Irish whiskey with him.

  His doctor was hovering, and showing the strain of the long day as he urged the family to take their turn before it was too late. But against all odds, Nicholas seemed to be actually getting stronger. He now summoned the entire family into the room at one time, crowding together in an attempt not to jostle the medical equipment.

  Nicholas had a speech ready for his family, including little Nick, who was behaving very well in spite of the heavy tension among the adults.

  “Son, and grandsons, you have always made Bess and me so very proud, haven’t they, Bess? We’ve been blessed by God to have a family like this.

  “Sarah and Rebecca, my granddaughters that I never thought to have. You have more than filled that void in Bess’s and my lives. Thank you for loving and caring for my grandsons, and thank you especially, Sarah, for my great-grandson. Nick, I love you.”

  His voice grew weaker again as he thanked them all for their years of love and care and asked them to take care of Bess and then gestured for them to come and hug him one by one. When it was Daniel’s turn, he whispered, “I know what no one has told me, boy. You are facing another crisis at the moment. Don’t give up. Things are going to look very bleak and as if all will be lost.”

  Daniel tried to reassure him, but he gripped his grandson’s arm with surprising strength. ”No, don’t talk, I don’t have much time to say this. You and the others must be strong and bold as you have been on all previous occasions. You must never give up. Rosslers never give up and they always come out on top. Remember that.”