Captured (The Prometheus Project Book 2)

by Richards, Douglas E

  He gasped in relief as the pain ceased immediately. Regan was lying on the ground with an exhausted look on her face and he stumbled to the ground next to her. Although she had fled the building before sending her message, she wasn’t in much better shape than he was.

  An instant later their parents were kneeling over them wearing horrified expressions. They had looked up from their work just in time to read the agony on the faces of their children and then to see first Regan, and then Ryan, stagger out of the building.

  “Are you okay?” asked Amanda Resnick worriedly.

  They both nodded.

  “What happened?” asked their father.

  Both kids told them about the sudden onset of over-whelming pain centered on their ears and head, and how it had dissipated immediately after they had exited the building.

  “Great job, Regs,” said Ryan warmly. “Thanks for saving me from that.”

  It never occurred to him that running from the building would help. He had assumed that whatever was happening to them would happen anywhere within the city.

  Their parents looked confused. “I don’t understand,” said their father. “How did Regan help you?”

  Ryan realized his mistake immediately. He had forgotten that his parents didn’t hear his sister’s telepathic shout.

  “I don’t know what he’s talking about,” said Regan, also realizing his mistake. “I didn’t help him.” Right after saying this she quickly broadcast, “You’re very welcome, Ryan. It’s not like you haven’t saved me before.”

  All sets of eyes turned toward Ryan. “You know, now that I think about it,” he said lamely, “she’s right. I’m not sure what I meant just now.”

  Their parents exchanged worried looks. Ryan hallucinating help from his sister wasn’t a good sign. Their mother examined them carefully and then had them answer a few simple math and science questions to be sure their memory and reasoning had not been affected.

  Fortunately, after a few minutes they seemed to be doing well, and their parents were beginning to finally let out the mental breath they had been holding. Mrs. Resnick guessed that they would have been knocked unconscious in another ten or fifteen seconds had they stayed where they were. After that, who knew how long it would have been before they suffered permanent damage.

  When their mother was absolutely convinced they had fully recovered, all four Resnicks made their way back to the large table at which Mr. and Mrs. Resnick had been seated when their children had arrived. They were understandably cautious entering the building again, and prepared for an immediate exit if they were assaulted once more, but nothing happened.

  Ben Resnick stroked his chin, deep in thought, and his brown eyes danced rapidly across a set of graphs displayed on a large, high-definition computer monitor on the table. He was a little less than average in height, had brown hair a few shades darker than his son’s, and often looked a bit unkempt. He was also widely regarded as one of the best physicists in the world.

  “I’m pretty sure I know what caused this,” he said at last. “But I need to check something.” He quickly went around the room, cluttered with human equipment and numerous alien devices of every type that he was studying, and deposited electronic sensors at equal distances from the table. He then returned to the table and flipped a switch on a piece of human equipment, about the size of a washing-machine, that was sitting beside it.

  Nothing happened.

  Mr. Resnick studied the computer screen for several long seconds, nodded, and then flipped the switch the other way.

  “I was right,” he said triumphantly. “I know what happened.” He pointed to the large device he had just switched on and off with no apparent effect. “The ultrasonic generator caused it.”

  “The what?” said Regan.

  “Ultrasonic generator. I was calibrating it when you came in. It generates high frequency sound waves.”

  “Sound waves? Then why didn’t we hear anything?” asked Regan.

  “Ultrasound is high frequency sound beyond the range of human hearing. You can’t tell if this generator’s on without sensors and a computer.”

  “I don’t get it,” said Ryan. “Sound that you can’t hear? In my book, if you can’t hear it, it’s not sound. What’s the point?”

  His father shook his head. “There are far more uses for ultrasonic sound than you would imagine, Ryan. The waves can be very high-energy. You can use them to break up kidney stones. You can bounce them off a fetus to visualize it inside its mother.” He raised his eyebrows. “And if you direct powerful enough ultrasonic energy at a liquid, you can even create tiny bubbles that can reach temperatures above those found on the surface of the sun.”

  “Really?” said Regan.

  “I wouldn’t kid you,” said Mr. Resnick, smiling. “Anyway, the generator was on a setting that should have been harmless. But something in the material of this building somehow concentrated all of the ultrasonic energy exactly where you two entered. Everywhere else in the room was perfectly safe.”

  Mr. Resnick lowered his head and frowned deeply. He had been so sure what he was doing was harmless, but it had nearly ended in disaster. As careful as he thought he was being, he was clearly not being careful enough. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am about this,” he said softly to his kids, the horror he felt at having been the cause of something that had severely hurt his children etched in every line on his face. “If I had even thought this was a possibility … I mean if there was even a chance … I never would have—”

  “It’s okay, Dad,” interrupted Ryan. “It was a freak accident. You didn’t know this would happen. We’ll be fine.”

  Their father let out a heavy sigh and gave each of them a quick hug.

  “Well, as much as I’d like to figure out why this happened,” he said, “I won’t have the time for at least a few months. But don’t worry—I won’t be using this generator again until I do.”

  Regan nodded. “Well, now that that’s over,” she said, “What’s going on with the team?”

  The kids were in school during weekdays and missed the daily team meetings, so their parents were responsible for keeping them informed of new developments.

  “Quite a lot, actually,” replied her mother. “We voted to significantly increase the number of scientists on the project. Everyone is feeling overwhelmed. There’s just too much here to study. This place could keep a million scientists busy for a thousand years.”

  “What about security?” asked Ryan.

  “Good question,” said Amanda Resnick. “The more people who know the secret the more chance it will leak. And that would be dangerous. If the city’s advanced technology got into the wrong hands it would be a disaster. On the other hand, being severely shorthanded while we explore the city is dangerous also. We start to get sloppy. And I don’t have to remind you what could happen if we’re not careful: the same thing that would happen to a caveman who started playing with a bunch of nuclear warheads,” she finished grimly. “And we just witnessed that we can’t even always be sure what Earth technology will do in here.”

  “So is Dr. Harris okay with adding more scientists?” asked Ryan.

  “Yes, and he’s already convinced the president to approve it.”

  “How many will be on the team altogether?” asked Regan.

  “Eventually, almost nine hundred,” answered their mother. “Which will make it a very difficult challenge, indeed, for Carl to keep the secret from getting out. But this is a risk we believe we have to take. As it is, we’re extremely lucky to have someone like Carl heading up security.”

  “Absolutely,” agreed their father. “Most scientists aren’t big fans of military types, but Carl is truly a good man and he’s put together a fantastic team. If anyone can maintain security in a humane way, he can. He’ll be adding people to the security team as well.”

  Their mother nodded. “So that’s the first piece of big news,” she said. She pulled an object from her lab coat that looked like a fat
pen with a small isosceles triangle at its tip and three small buttons down its side. “And here is the second.” As she moved the object it changed colors. She held it up. “Pamela Joy, our head of chemistry, found three of these early this week in a building near the entrance, and we’ve been studying them.”

  Ryan and Regan remained silent, waiting for her to continue.

  “It seems to be some sort of portable med-kit.” She pointed to the top button. “This button controls the accelerated wound healing function. Think of the triangle on the end of the device as an arrow. Point it at a cut or other wound and press the button for just a second and the wound heals at many times the normal rate. We don’t know how, but it’s able to speed up cell growth in the region of the injury. The triangle will glow when you press the button so you’ll know it’s working.”

  Both kids nodded, clearly fascinated.

  “The middle button is for pain relief. Point it at your body, anywhere, and your entire body will be completely free of all pain for about thirty minutes. There may be a way to extend the effect but we haven’t found it. If you continue to need pain relief you can just point it at yourself and press the button again.”

  Amanda Resnick paused and pointed to the lowest button. “This button eradicates infections. Nearly instantly. We’ve managed to test it on the viruses responsible for colds and the flu, and several nasty bacterial strains, and it’s worked like a charm on all of them. Whether it’s effective for other human illnesses or alien infections, we don’t know yet.”

  “Very, very cool,” said Ryan simply.

  “The color change is the opposite of a chameleon, isn’t it?” guessed Regan in fascination.

  Her parents both nodded proudly. “Exactly right,” said her father. “Chameleons change color to match their surroundings so it’s more difficult for predators to see them. This device does exactly the opposite. It was designed to stand out—probably to make it harder for someone to lose.”

  “Watch this,” said their mother as she put the pen next to her white lab coat. It immediately turned pitch black. She put it next to the base of the computer screen, which was black, and it instantly turned white. She held it next to a number of different colors and patterns and it always managed to find a counter-color or counter-pattern that made it stand out. Although it was a small device, it seemed to jump out at you regardless of the background it was on.

  “Wow,” said Regan appreciatively. “Any way to do that with Dad’s car keys?”

  “That’s a cheap shot,” said Mr. Resnick, pretending to be hurt. “Besides, I always manage to find them in the end.”

  “Eventually,” said Ryan, rolling his eyes.

  Their mother smiled and pulled a second of the penlike medical devices from her pocket. She handed one to each of her children who examined them with great interest.

  “Take good care of those,” said Mr. Resnick. “They’re yours.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Ryan. “I thought you said the team only found three of these?”

  “So far, yes,” said their mother. “But the team voted unanimously to give these two to you.”

  “But that’s not fair to the team,” complained Regan. “We don’t expect special treatment just because we’re kids.”

  “Believe me, the way you handled yourself when you joined the team and the way you’ve handled yourself since, no one thinks you need it. Think of it more as a sign of affection than a sign that you need special treatment.”

  “We really appreciate it,” said Ryan. “But we can’t accept these,” he insisted. Regan shook her head in agreement beside him.

  “The vote was unanimous,” said Ben Resnick sternly, in a voice that harbored no dissent. “If you want to be part of the team you have to abide by its votes. You two still get your vote, of course, but this won’t change the result. Besides,” continued their father, “we’re on the lookout for more of these, and I’m sure we’ll find some soon.”

  Ryan stared at his parents for a long moment and knew he wouldn’t win this argument. “Well, thanks,” he said in surrender. “I guess we can’t refuse.” He paused. “But I want you to know something,” he added. “We really are being very careful inside this city and I’m sure that we’ll never need to use them.”

  But even as he said this, the phrase, “warning, unauthorized entry,” flashed across his mind, and he was unable to shake the feeling of unease that had managed to settle over him with surprising intensity.

  CHAPTER 5

  Security Sweep

  Ryan and Regan left their parents and made their way to Carl’s security headquarters within the city, located in a building very near the entrance. The building projected a different holographic image around itself every day so that it never looked the same twice. Today it was light-purple and oval shaped.

  The siblings entered and found Carl moments later, in civilian clothing but heavily armed, working busily at a computer. He was a handsome man with a square jaw, and his short brown hair had a touch of silver on both sides. Although he was fifty, he was in fantastic shape and carried himself with the athletic ease of a much younger man.

  He looked up when they entered and smiled. “Hi guys. How’s it going?”

  “Good,” said Ryan. “Do you have a few minutes?”

  “For you two, absolutely. I’m pretty busy, but this is a good time for a break.”

  Carl walked over to a small, oak roundtable by his desk and plopped into one of the cushioned black chairs surrounding it. He motioned for the kids to join him.

  “We heard the team will be growing to nine hundred scientists soon,” said Ryan, sitting.

  Carl nodded grimly.

  “Are you worried about that? Do you think the secret of Prometheus will get out?”

  “I’ve always believed that, Ryan,” replied Carl without hesitation. “Eventually. Not to mention,” he added with an amused twinkle in his eye, “that it already has.”

  “It has?” said Ryan in surprise.

  “How quickly you forget,” mused Carl. “The secret did get out—to you and Regan. We’re all lucky it did, but you weren’t supposed to know about Prometheus. No other unauthorized parties have learned the secret since, but it’s bound to happen again. When it does, I’m confident I’ll know about it, but what then? Will I put innocent people who learn of the secret in prison? Will I just swear them to secrecy and trust them? They all won’t be worthy of joining the team like the two of you were.” He paused. “The good news is that I think I’m nearing a possible solution—it’s not perfect but it’s the best one I’ve been able to come up with.”

  “Great,” said Ryan. “What is it?”

  “If someone discovers the city, just erase all their memories of it.”

  “Can you do that?” said Ryan.

  “Well, not exactly. You can’t isolate just Prometheus memories and leave all the rest alone. The brain has multiple ways of storing, processing and retrieving memories, and they seem to be stored throughout the brain rather than in a precise location. Even the best neuro-scientists in the world aren’t exactly sure how human memory works.”

  “I didn’t realize it was that tricky.”

  Carl nodded. “It can be weird, too. I learned about one experiment they did in the 1950’s I think you’ll like.” He leaned in closer. “It began like this: scientists trained a bunch of worms to—”

  “You can train a worm?” interrupted Ryan.

  Carl shrugged. “Well, I’m not a scientist, but from what I’ve been told, yes, you can train a worm. Not to fetch your slippers or anything,” he added wryly, “but to go toward a light and perform other simple tasks like that.” He paused. “Anyway, after the worms were trained, the scientists ground them up and fed them to other, untrained worms.”

  “Disgusting,” said Regan, making a face. “Worms will really eat their friends?”

  Carl shrugged his shoulders. “Apparently. I guess the secret is to grind them up into a paste.”

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nbsp; “Thanks,” said Regan wryly. “I’ll be sure to remember that.”

  “Go on,” prompted Ryan, completely fascinated by this bizarre experiment.

  Carl smiled. “Believe it or not, they found that after the untrained worms ate the trained ones, they learned the same tasks faster than normal. The knowledge in the brains of the trained worms was somehow passed to the brains of untrained worms.” He paused. “Maybe cannibals have the right idea after all,” he joked.

  “Well, as long as they only eat really smart people,” said Regan, smiling.

  “I don’t know,” said Ryan. “I think I’d rather just study harder and skip the whole cannibalism thing.”

  Carl laughed. “Anyway, getting back to the original subject,” he said, “we can’t erase Prometheus memories only, but we think we can erase all memories of a specific block of time. This is what happens to people who have something called retrograde amnesia. They suffer a trauma and forget everything that happened to them just prior to the trauma, but their memories are perfectly normal other than that. We think we’ll be able to mimic this effect.”

  Ryan raised his eyebrows questioningly. “We?”

  “A group of top neuroscientists at Proact have been working on this for some time. I’ve been following their progress very closely. They don’t know about Prometheus, of course, but they know I’m responsible for their funding. I’ve been meeting with them fairly regularly for some time now.” He glanced at his watch. “In fact, I’m meeting with them in five hours.”

  “In five hours? That’s after ten on a Friday night,” noted Ryan.

  Carl nodded. “It was the only time we could fit it in. They think they’ve made a breakthrough. They tell me they’ve perfected a chemical formula for an inhalant that will do the trick. They think it will erase all memory of the previous ten hours or so.”

  “Considering everything, I think it’s a great idea,” said Regan.

  “Yeah. It’s a lot better than putting someone who discovers the secret in a prison cell in Alaska somewhere,” agreed her brother.

  Regan smiled and added, “I’m just glad you didn’t have this when we first discovered Prometheus.”