Stones: Hypothesis (Stones #2)

by Jacob Whaler

  His eyes flutter open. “Where’s Ryzaard?”

  “175 floors above us.”

  Matt pushes himself up, turns to the side and vomits onto the street.

  They hear the booted footsteps of combat troops rushing out of a side door of the building.

  Matt jumps to his feet and pulls up Jessica. Pulse rifles still dangle from their sides.

  There’s a flash of white light, and they are gone.

  CHAPTER 147

  The door from Ryzaard’s office swings open, and ten men in combat dress jog into the lab, fingers on the triggers of their pulse rifles, eyes on their scopes.

  “Gentlemen,” Ryzaard says. “Please take your positions here and wait for my orders.” He points to an open space in front of the gaping hole in the wall.

  They lower their rifles and move in front of the hole, eyes wide. The lab door swings shut behind them.

  Ryzaard calmly walks back to the children and picks up the yellow tubes with needle tips off the bed. The large face of Jing-wei appears on the wall screen behind him.

  “Dr. Ryzaard.”

  Ryzaard turns to the screen. “What is it, Jing-wei?”

  She shifts in her seat. “It appears that there’s a possibility we are experiencing some anomalies with the—”

  Kalani’s young face jumps on the screen. He pushes Jing-wei out of the frame.

  “Doc, something’s in the computer.”

  “Kalani, I don’t have time to deal with your virus problem. Use your sweep protocol and I’m sure that you can take care of—”

  “But Dr. Ryzaard!” Kalani yells at the screen. “This is different. The sweep protocol has no effect. It’s alive! I swear it. Searching for you.”

  As Kalani speaks, the shackles holding the children’s wrists and ankles in place silently open and withdraw into the sides of their beds.

  The green lines on the side of the silver cube start flickering on and off.

  Leo and Yarah sit up.

  CHAPTER 148

  There’s a white flash in the darkness next to the window in Ryzaard’s office. Matt and Jessica appear. Matt bends over and vomits green slime onto the middle of the large desk.

  “Are you OK?” Jessica says.

  “Never better.” Matt wipes his mouth with a shirt sleeve and leans against the window to keep his balance. His hand goes up to his chest, meeting Jessica’s. “To be honest, that last blast hit me hard. Felt like daggers on my skin, across my whole body. But don’t worry. I’m getting used to it.” He slips into Ryzaard’s chair and drops his forehead down to the desk.

  Matt, can you hear me?

  His head instantly lifts up. “She’s awake.”

  “Who?”

  “The little girl. Yarah. In the room next door. I need to talk to her.”

  “How?” Jessica says.

  “She’s telepathic.”

  Matt looks directly at the wall separating Ryzaard’s office from the circular room. He closes his eyes, lifts a finger to his head and concentrates on thinking words as he speaks them out loud, slowly and deliberately.

  “Yarah, listen to me. I’m here, on the other side of the wall. You and Leo have to jump away, back to Thailand, where you saw the big monkey. Can you do that?”

  Her voice echoes again in his mind, like a bad jax connection, cutting out so that the words are difficult to understand.

  We tried . . . doesn’t work . . . something pulling on me.

  Matt puts his head down again.

  “OK, got it. No problem. I’m coming after you and Leo. But I need your help. Look around. Tell me what you see.”

  Leo is awake . . . arms and legs are free . . . bad men with guns by the big hole . . . Ryzaard . . . stick needles in us so we will go to sleep.

  “Tell me more about Ryzaard.”

  He’s looking at the wall . . . yelling at people . . . not happy . . . wants everyone to shut up.

  Matt lifts his head and looks again at the wall in front of him. An idea forms in his mind.

  “Yarah, Can you and Leo get off the beds?”

  Yes.

  “OK, good. Hide behind the beds away from the big wall screens. I’m going to come get you. There’s going to be lots of noise and explosions and yelling. I’ll make it so you and Leo can jump away with me and Jessica.”

  Who is Jessica?

  “She’s my special friend. You’ll like her.”

  Is she like a mother?

  “Yes, Yarah.” Matt looks back into Jessica’s eyes. “She’s like the best mother in the world. Can you tell Leo everything I said?”

  I already did.

  “Yarah, one more thing. If Ryzaard tries to hurt you, just think of light coming out of your Stone. OK?”

  OK.

  “I’ll have blue skin when you see me. Don’t be scared. Just laugh. Here we come.”

  CHAPTER 149

  What is wrong with that kid?

  Ryzaard stares at Kalani on the bluescreen with a detached look in his eyes. Kalani is having a full-blown hysteric attack, screaming about something in the computer, his fingers jumping wildly around the slate in his hands.

  The rage inside Ryzaard starts to rise up. He knows it will soon explode. As he is about to turn back to the children on the beds, another face jumps onto the screen.

  This time it’s Elsa Bergman.

  “Dr. Ryzaard, why have you initiated the trading protocol? I thought we were taking a rest.”

  His teeth come together, and he can feel the tension growing in his jaw muscles. With effort, he opens his mouth and tries to speak slowly and clearly. “I haven’t initiated the trading protocol. I gave you specific instructions to shut it down.”

  Elsa stares back at him. Her mouth slowing drops open. “But Dr. Ryzaard. Trading activity is fully engaged. The computer says you authorized it. All positions have been reopened.” Her eyes dart away for a split second and shoot back to Ryzaard. “We’ve already lost 500 billion IMUs!”

  “Shut it down!” Ryzaard’s voice roars like the bursting of a high pressure dam. He jumps closer to the bluescreen, fingers outstretched, as if trying to grab Elsa by the throat. “Pull the plug!”

  “I can’t!” she bellows. “The computer keeps overriding me with your personal authorization code.”

  The screen goes black.

  And then comes on again.

  “Dr. Ryzaard.” This time it’s the face of Diego Lopez. “The Stone location protocol has been wiped from the computer. Along with all backups. It will take weeks or months to recreate it. I don’t know what’s happening.”

  Before Ryzaard can respond, Kalani’s face comes back on the screen. He looks pale, as if he’s just emptied the contents of his stomach somewhere on the floor nearby. Wiping his lips with a sleeve, his voice is low and barely audible. “Links to all external databases have been severed and markers dropped. US State Department, Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Japanese Ministry of Defense. Everywhere we’ve been snooping. In a few minutes, they’ll all know what we’ve done.”

  Kalani fades away.

  A face blackened by dirt and sweat materializes on the screen. It’s Jerek standing in his lab. Behind him, sparks and fire are pouring out of the glass and titanium equipment neatly arranged next to the bluescreens on his desk. He’s yelling, but there’s no sound.

  Black smoke begins to pour into the round room through the ceiling vents above Ryzaard’s head.

  “Kill the power!” Ryzaard yells. “For god’s sake, kill the power throughout the lab, throughout the building!”

  “Wait, Dr. Ryzaard!” Kalani’s big brown eyes stare directly ahead, his hands flying over the slate in his hands. “I’ve traced the source of the infection. It’s coming directly from your lab.”

  “My lab?” Ryzaard yells. “Where in my lab, Kalani? I need more detail.”

  Both of Kalani’s hands fly over the slate, his eyes sweeping back and forth. Drops of sweat pour off his forehead. An orange fire rages behind him. Smoke cur
ls through the air and begins to obscure his face. “Just a minute.” He starts to cough. “Almost have it.” Then he squints and shakes his head. “This can’t be right.”

  Ryzaard puts his hands on the bluescreen, the tender tissue of his throat made raw by screaming. “Tell me! Whatever it is, tell me!”

  Kalani looks up into Ryzaard’s eyes. “It’s coming directly from Little John’s implant interface.”

  Ryzaard swings around and looks down at Little John. The implant below his ear glows bright green. Out of the corner of his eye, Ryzaard sees that the children are no longer in their beds.

  “Dr. Ryzaard.” A vaguely familiar voice speaks out of the bluescreen on the wall. “I hope you’re enjoying our little game. I’ve tried to make it as entertaining as possible.”

  Ryzaard whips around to see a massive face that reminds him of a cross between a laughing Buddha and Little John floating in a sea of rich colors.

  “What are you doing, Little John?” Ryzaard looks back and forth between the face on the screen and the body of the fat man lying on the bed.

  “What am I doing? Why, the very thing you wanted me to do. Using the implant to its full capacity.” The face on the screen laughs hysterically. “You know, I’ve always dreamed of destroying Abomination from the inside out. And now you’ve given me the opportunity. The chance of a lifetime. I should thank you.”

  Ryzaard takes a step back from the bluescreen and puts both hands up to his chest, slowing pulling two Stones from the leather harness. He turns around and walks to Little John’s body, shackled to the bed.

  “Just one last thing before you kill me.” The Little John on the bluescreen is suddenly serious. “Watch your back.”

  CHAPTER 150

  Matt zips the backpack shut, stands up from Ryzaard’s chair and tosses a flash grenade to Jessica. He holds his Stone in both hands in front of his eyes in the familiar grip of a samurai sword.

  Jessica grabs the grenade out of the air and walks shoulder to shoulder on Matt’s right side, balancing a pulse rifle out in front in each arm, fingers on triggers, the barrels pointing squarely at the wall.

  “Ready?” Matt says.

  A thin yellow blade a meter and a half in length rises out of the base of his Stone.

  Jessica nods. “Go for it.”

  “Just don’t blow up the back of my head.”

  “Don’t get in front of me.”

  He looks at Jessica and tips his chin. Together, they rush forward directly at the wall.

  CHAPTER 151

  Ryzaard holds a Stone in each hand over Little John’s bare chest. Daggers of light drop out of the Stones and point down at the pink flesh.

  “Watch my back?” Ryzaard says. “What do you mean?”

  For an instant, something draws Ryzaard’s eyes to the face of Little John behind him on the bluescreen.

  “Good-bye,” Little John says.

  Holes the size of basketballs open up all along the top of the wall behind Ryzaard. They work their way to the floor on a diagonal and then move along the bottom, tracing the shape of a large Z. Little John’s smiling face on the bluescreen shatters and explodes in a fountain of sparks, fire and smoke. Slashes rip through the wall at chest level, and the entire middle section falls forward into the circular room, crushing medical equipment and sending up flames and green smoke.

  Pulse projectiles whiz past Ryzaard’s head and waist. One slams into his shoulder just as a blue bubble forms around him. The force of the impact knocks him to the floor on his back. The Stones are knocked out of his hands and hit the floor, rolling away.

  He looks up.

  Two figures emerge from the smoke and sparks, a man covered in blue skin and a woman with two pulse rifles slung in front of her.

  Matt and Jessica.

  A hail of cross-fire bursts over Ryzaard’s head from the combat troops on his far right. Matt turns to shield Jessica. Tiny black explosions draw a line across his blue chest as he opens his arms.

  Jessica dives over and past Ryzaard, twisting in midair and tossing a shiny canister over his head where the combat troops stand at the other end of the room.

  There’s a sudden blast of light, and the cross-fire abruptly ceases.

  Ryzaard reaches up to the bed next to him and pulls himself to his feet, looking directly at the silver cube three meters away. Lights strips on its side still glow green. Jessica rolls and comes to her knees. She levels the barrel of the pulse rifle at the cube and blasts it in half.

  He sees the children.

  They jump out from behind the beds and hug Jessica. Matt rushes to her side and wraps his arms around her. For an brief moment, Ryzaard sees them all staring at him through the smoke, smiles written on their faces.

  Ryzaard pulls a Stone from his chest.

  A string of green dots burst from the tip of Matt’s Stone. An aura of blue flashes around Ryzaard again, but the impact of the dots throws him backward and onto the bed.

  A sudden pain from a needle-sharp object stabs into his back. A wave of warmth and relaxation washes over him as he slips down.

  When his head touches the floor, there’s a flash of white light in the room.

  And then only silence.

  CHAPTER 152

  A pile of rock on the green grass catch the last rays of the setting sun.

  Yarah looks up at Matt on one side and Jessica on the other and squeezes their hands. Her voice plays like a melody in their minds.

  Where is Stanley Park?

  “It’s a beautiful forest near the ocean and mountains.” Jessica looks down at Yarah. “You’ll love it there.”

  Matt bends down to Yarah’s level. “Did Little John tell you anything else?”

  Leo tosses a small rock onto the pile. “He said they will be waiting for us when we get there. He said he would try to send them a message to tell them we’re coming.” A single tear descends his cheek as he stares down at the pile. “He wasn’t sure he would have time before Ryzaard killed him.”

  Yarah lets go of Matt’s hand and pulls the monkey figurine out of the side pocket of her pants.

  Little John told me to show this to the people in Stanley Park.

  Matt looks across the rocks at Leo. “Did he say anything about the freedom camp there?”

  “He said they would be looking for a new leader. I’m not sure what he meant.” Leo’s eyes drop back down to the pile of rocks.

  Yarah follows Leo’s eyes onto the mound. She reaches out and touches it. Her voice floats in everyone’s mind.

  Why do good people have to die?

  Matt swallows hard. “Sooner or later, everyone has to move on to the next level, Yarah. It was just my dad’s time. And his friend Jake.”

  Like a caterpillar turns into a butterfly?

  “Yes,” Jessica says. “Exactly.”

  But it hurts.

  “I know,” Matt says. “It hurts a lot. It always will. Until we’re all together again. Then it won’t hurt anymore forever.”

  As if on cue, they all turn away from the pile of rocks and walk out into the middle of the grassy field. A faint star and a full moon shine above their heads in the night sky. The sound of cicadas fills the air. Somewhere a frog is singing.

  The four of them stand in a circle and let their fingers intertwine.

  “Ready?” Matt says.

  Jessica squeezes his hand. “Let’s go.”

  END OF BOOK 2

  Keep reading for a preview of

  STONES

  (EXPERIMENT)

  BOOK THREE OF THE STONES SERIES

  by

  Jacob Whaler

  CHAPTER 1

  “Did you dispose of the bodies?”

  Ryzaard sits in a lotus position on the meditation platform, eyes staring straight ahead across the top of Manhattan at the bright orange sunrise.

  “What was left of them.” Alexa leans back on the red sofa and lifts a wine glass to her lips. “You made quite a mess of Dr. Zemikis and his assistant. Littl
e John was unrecognizable.”

  “I want the walls repaired and the entire lab cleaned up and sanitized by lunchtime.” Ryzaard breathes in deeply. “And do something about that smell.”

  “Human flesh tends to take on a disgusting aroma when it comes in contact with high-energy plasma,” Alexa says. “But don’t worry. It’ll go away as soon as we get the ventilation system restored.” She lays her head back on the sofa and looks up at the Chinese calligraphy hanging directly above her on the wall. “Any idea how Little John did it?”

  Ryzaard takes in another breath. The fingers of his right hand slowly curl and uncurl. There is visible tension in his jaw. “A design flaw in the implant.” His breath slowly leaks out through his lips. “Nothing more.”

  “Do you think he’s still out there somewhere, floating in the Mesh?”

  “Little John?” Ryzaard laughs. “He no longer exists. I killed him.”

  Alexa stands up. “Yes, but did you kill all of him?”

  “Don’t you have something better to do?” Ryzaard brings the palms of his hands together to the middle of his chest, beginning his meditation.

  “I heard about all the damage he did.” Alexa takes slow steps across the office floor. “Sounds like it might take weeks or months to get back to where we were.”

  “We’ll manage just fine.” Ryzaard pushes himself up from the meditation platform and puts the sole of his foot on the floor. “I have three Stones.”

  “So do they.”

  “Which means there are five left to find. The game is far from over.”

  Alexa moves to the door and stops. “The cleanup crew will be here in fifteen minutes. You might want to relocate for a few hours while they work on your mess.” She disappears down the hall.

  Ryzaard puts his hand on the desk and drops into his high-backed chair. Opening a desk drawer, he pulls out a small leather-bound book. Its pages are worn and torn. He leafs through it, scanning the handwritten notes in Japanese.

  The game is just beginning.