Outlanders - Ghost Walk, page 18
“Well?” Breech prodded urgently. “I need to know. Is this proto-planic energy?”
Brigid shook her head. “I wish I could tell you.” Brigid could not answer Breech’s question, but she knew that the circuitry in the room represented a science of an ordered, systematic knowledge that led to the control of the forces of nature, if not the universe itself. The extent of the forces, how vast their effects, she had no way of even guessing, but she had the unsettling sensation that the machines channeled the same energies that had destroyed the world aeons before.
Chapter 27
Breech led the way down a spiral flight of metal stairs and entered a vault-walled chamber. The room was circular and much larger than had looked possible. A gleaming spire rose from the center of the floor, reaching like a spear through an aperture in the high ceiling. Four huge metal rings surrounded its base, but as they ascended upward, they decreased in diameter. There were perhaps fifty of the rings visible. A dim glow came from the hole in the roof, illuminating the rings. A pale nimbus, a kind of wavering halo, shimmered from each ring.
“It looks like a supercollider,” Brigid commented.
“Close,” Breech replied. “It’s a large ion collider expeditor. Known in the old vernacular as ALICE.”
“You put this together?” Brigid demanded. “You built this?”
“No,” said Breech. “ALICE was already here.” He gestured to the base of the spire, and she saw hair-thin filaments stretching out from it, disappearing into sockets on the floor. “We just hooked up the power feeds.”
“Why?”
Breech regarded her with hollow, haunted eyes. “I thought—I hoped—we could engineer a new beginning. A fresh start for humanity.” Brigid gritted her teeth against a pain stabbing through her skull.
“By cobbling together old Archon tech that predark scientists realized was too dangerous to use?”
“I didn’t know it was Archon tech…not exactly, anyway.”
“But you put it together nevertheless.” Her tone held a sharp, accusatory edge.
“We had to. That was the plan. The transmitter itself was already assembled. It just needed to be connected to the generator. We did that.”
“And now?”
He swallowed hard. “And now we can’t turn it off. It’s drawing power from somewhere, and I have the feeling it’s building to critical mass, which can have a terrible effect on space-time itself.”
As Brigid stared at the spire, she became aware that shifting patterns of light and changing colors on the rings brought pain to her eyes and a corresponding throb in her head. “You have a feeling,” she snapped, “that it’s generating the so-called protoplanic force used by the Archons?” Taking her by the elbow, he guided her around the spire. “It’s a little more than that. In general relativity and related theories, the distribution of the mass, momentum and stress due to matter interacting with a non-gravitational field is called an energy-momentum tensor. Are you familiar with the term?”
“Only insofar as the Einstein field equation is applied to it. I do know that his equation isn’t very specific about what types of matter or energy fields are admissible in a space-time model.” Breech gave her a fleeting, appreciative smile. “Erica was right. You are far more intelligent than most people in this day and age. All right, I believe the energy conditions within the generator and the transmitter are channeling properties that represent all states of matter and all energy states. Eigenvalues and eigenvectors are unrestricted and they are imposed at the level of tangent space.”
Brigid frowned. “And that means what exactly?” Breech laughed, but it sounded forced, with a screechy undertone of hysteria. “If I knew what it meant exactly, you and I wouldn’t be having this conversation. But my theory is that enough power is already concentrated in the transmitter to warp the fabric of space-time all over the planet.”
“The power has to be drawn from somewhere other than the generator.”
“I agree. I think it’s drawn from subspace and its nature is being modified and focused by the theta-pinch transmitter.”
“Focused into what?” Brigid asked.
Breech turned his stricken face toward her. “That’s why we’re talking, Brigid. You’re the one with experience with this kind of technology.”
Brigid smiled crookedly, without humor. “No one really has experience with it. But I’ll do what I can to help you if my hands are freed and you take me to my friends.”
Breech nodded agreeably. “All right. You’re a hands-on type of scientist. So you need your hands.”
Reaching into a pocket of his coverall, he pulled out a small knife and slashed through the nylon straps around Brigid’s wrists. She brought her arms around in front of her, flexing her fingers and massaging circulation back into her hands. Gazing at Breech challengingly, she asked, “And my friends?”
He jerked his head toward the left. “This way.”
Brigid followed him around the spire, then rocked to a clumsy halt, her stomach lurching. Grant and Kane were bound hand and ankle to a pair of metal frameworks in the shape of Xs. Both men were conscious, but they did not look well—their eyes bore glassy sheens and their faces glistened with perspiration. Two men wearing the consortium coveralls stood on either side of the frameworks. They looked distinctly unhealthy, their complexions waxy, their eyes surrounded by dark rings. Brigid made a move to lunge toward Kane and Grant, but Breech latched on to her right arm and pulled her back.
“They’re all right. They haven’t been harmed.”
“Then why are they bound?” she demanded, wresting out of his grip.
“Mainly so they won’t cause trouble until—” Breech broke off and averted his gaze. “Until what?” she snapped.
“Until,” said a musical voice from behind her, “they can serve as vessels for the vent discharge.” Brigid whirled around and watched Varnley approach, tapping the tip of his infrasound wand against the palm of one hand. Although his high-planed face revealed no emotion, she suddenly knew the hybrid had betrayed them. Struggling to tamp down the surge of fear so it was not evident in her voice, Brigid asked, “What’s going on here, Varnley?”
Varnley’s eyes flicked toward Breech. “Should you tell her, Quintus, or shall I?”
“So you’re the real brains of this operation,” Brigid declared.
Varnley’s thin lips creased in an imitation of a smug smile.
“Rather more colloquial than I might phrase it, but yes—I’ve been working with Quintus Breech and his disaffected consortium agents.”
“Why?” Brigid blurted. “You helped him to murder your own people here?”
“Of course.” Varnley shook his head in mock pity. “It was my idea to get rid of the competition.” “Competition for what?”
“What do you think?” Kane called out. “He’s the latest entrant in the ongoing ‘tomorrow the world’ sweepstakes, with absolute power as the prize.”
“And it’s corrupted absolutely again,” Brigid said grimly, glaring first at Varnley then at Breech. Varnley waved the infrasound wand diffidently. “Don’t be so melodramatic. I learned about the theta-pinch transmitter many years ago. It was always my ambition to use it to further the baronial agenda.”
“The barons are gone,” Grant barked.
Varnley didn’t glance in his direction. “But their agenda remains.”
“Which is what?” Brigid asked, not trying to soften the hard edge of contempt in her tone.
“To unify humanity and the world.”
Kane uttered a sound between a snarl and a laugh. “We’ve heard that one before. Just about everybody who said it to us is dead…including your barons.”
“Of that I have no doubt. But with this machine—” he nodded toward the transmitter “—I can force that unity myself. All it takes is a bit of transformation.”
Brigid suddenly understood—and she felt sick. “By turning humanity into a viral form of life? Into ghost-walkers?”
“That phenomenon is a side effect of the theta radiation,” Breech said. “It’s not what it was designed to do.”
“Even so,” Varnley stated, “humanity is already primitive, driven by a kind of herd instinct, living and reproducing in groups. Why not reduce all of that to its most base components?”
“The barons are no more,” Brigid said evenly. “You’ve become the puppet of a lost and dead conspiracy.”
Varnley regarded her with a mocking smile. “Think you so? Isn’t it axiomatic of conspiracies that someone or something else always pulls the strings?”
“Of ignorant puppets,” Brigid shot back, “yes.”
“I am not that, I can assure you. The puppet masters of this world have always been the Archons.”
“You’re in over your head, Varnley,” Kane stated. “It’s the Annunaki.”
The hybrid finally deigned to glance at him. “Do you think you’ve been able to rip away the cloak of secrecy that has been maintained for over twenty thousand years? Hardly. You were tricked by another diversion, one concocted by the barons.”
Although the Cerberus warriors had encountered mentally unstable hybrids in the past such as Baron Sharpe, it hadn’t occurred to Brigid that they also might fall prey to simple denial.
“We’ve had this discussion before,” Breech said coldly. “You’re deluding yourself. The baronies have fallen, the villes overwhelmed by chaos. The baronial agenda failed. Get used to it.” Without altering his expression of detachment, Varnley slashed Breech viciously across the right cheek with the point of the infrasound wand. The man staggered back, clutching at his face and crying out. Fortunately the device wasn’t powered up. If it had, Breech’s facial bones would have shattered like spun crystal.
“I suggest you get used to it,” Varnley countered. “You helped me reach this point in the plan, but that doesn’t mean I’ll tolerate disrespect from humans.”
Brigid intoned, “And the next stage of human development is what—reducing us to single-celled organisms? No, not even that…just a collection of electrical impulses and ionized gas?”
Varnley nodded. “Yes. Not everyone obviously. We new humans will still need servants.” “Slaves,” Grant said.
Appearing not to have heard, Varnley continued, “The energy contained in the transmitter’s capacitors needs to be bled off at regular intervals. When exposed to undiluted discharge of the energy, it transforms organic matter into the viral.”
Holding a hand to the cut on his face, Breech said, “That’s what happened to most of my staff. The men who chased you in the tunnel had refused to cooperate. They weren’t so much trying to kill you as kill Varnley.” He paused, his eyes seething with hatred. “I wish they’d succeeded.” “If they had,” Varnley retorted dismissively, “then Erica van Sloan would have no doubt died, as well.” He turned toward Brigid. “However, the sacrifice of your friends may not be necessary.” “Why not?”
“With your help, we may be able to turn off the transmitter or at least reduce its power needs.”
“I thought you wanted to turn everyone into ghost-walkers,” Brigid said.
“That was not the original plan,” Breech put in. “Believe me.”
“What is the plan, then?” Grant demanded hoarsely, lifting his head. The man standing on his right slammed him back against the framework with a hand pressed against his forehead. Breech’s shoulders slumped. “Erica told me about the theta-pinch experiments in New Mexico. I went to Phantom Mesa station to claim the technology that still existed. When I activated it, the transmitter…” He trailed off, coughed and asked, “You saw the video record, right?”
Brigid eyed him keenly. “Your people were turned into ghost-walkers…and you were changed, too.” He nodded and raised his hands, palm outwards. The skin was black, crusted and flaking away. “Yes, but because I didn’t get a direct jolt, the changeover has been progressive with me. I’m turning into a ghost-walker, but by degrees. I’ve been able to delay the process by venting the radiation that is transforming my cellular structure.” Lowering his hands, Breech stated, “When I found out stage two of the experiments had been moved here to Area 51, Erica secretly provided me with the gateway coordinates.”
“What does she plan to do with the transmitter?” Brigid asked.
“Erica described it as a self-sustaining source of free, transmittable energy. Photovoltaic technology, she called. She said a man named Tesla invented it. She said that if we controlled the energy, then we would control the world.”
Kane uttered a scoffing sound. “Why am I not surprised?”
Breech squared his shoulders. “We’re as qualified to lay down a foundation for a new society as the goddamn Millennial Consortium. If they have their way, we’ll all be a bunch of laborers.” Brigid cast a glance toward Varnley. “That’s the underpinnings of the baronial philosophy, so I can see why you two got along…at first.”
Desperately, Breech said, “None of that matters now. We don’t control the power here. The generator and the pieces of equipment to channel the protoplanic force are building up to a critical mass…we’re taking global decimation!”
A rush of sympathy rose in Brigid. “Let Kane and Grant go free, and I’ll stay here to help you figure out how to power down the generator.”
“No,” Varnley snapped. “Bleeding off the energy keeps the reactor within the generator at a manageable level.”
“We’re only buying time that way,” Breech said. “The intervals between the venting have become shorter and shorter. The color of the viral has changed from green to red…that means something. We’re all dying here, anyway. We don’t have to take the planet with us.”
Uncertainty flickered in Varnley’s eyes. “I have a counterproposal. Baptiste stays here and her friends become part of the viral collective.”
Before Brigid could answer, footsteps rang on the risers of the metal staircase. They turned to see a man in the consortium coverall slowly trudging down the steps. Varnley called to him, “Lennox, did you find any trace of the van Sloan woman?”
The man addressed as Lennox shook his head, his face a doleful mask of exhaustion. From above his head floated Erica van Sloan’s voice. “No, but I found a trace of Lennox.”
Chapter 28
Everyone watched in surprised silence as Erica strode down the stairs with the barrel of the Calico subgun trained on Lennox’s back.
Uttering a cry of relief, Breech rushed toward the woman, arms outspread. “Erica! Thank God!” She snapped up the Calico. “That’s far enough, Quintus. Don’t make me shoot you.”
He stumbled to a clumsy halt, lowering his arms. Face twisting in confusion, he stammered, “What are you—? I don’t understand! Tell me—”
“You’re probably radioactive,” Erica broke in harshly. “And you look and smell like shit.” “Ain’t love grand,” Brigid murmured.
“Shut up, Baptiste,” Erica said curtly, pushing Lennox away from her. “I’m the only chance you, Kane and Grant have of getting out of here alive.”
Varnley sidled around Brigid, lifting the infrasound wand but not activating it. “How were you able to escape the viral?”
Erica’s lips quirked in a superior smile. “The EMP emitted by the virals affect the brain. Mine isn’t quite like everyone else’s…or yours for that matter.”
Varnley frowned. “What do you mean?”
“The SQUIDs implants,” Brigid announced. “Right?”
Erica tapped her forehead. “On the money. I maintained consciousness long enough to get out of the viral’s effect radius and lay low.”
“Until now,” Breech said accusingly. “You were eavesdropping.”
“Just long enough to form an idea of what’s going on here.” Erica took a deep breath, as if she were steeling herself for an unpleasant task. “Quintus, baby…I’m afraid you’re screwed.”
The air in the room suddenly became hot. The switches stopped their steady clicking. The silence that took their place was of the void, of the grave.
“The final countdown has begun,” Erica continued. “Venting won’t stop the reactor from reaching critical mass now, so you might as well release them and say your goodbyes.”
Brigid saw Breech’s face go from fear to complete horror. He clutched at himself. “Something is happening, inside of me—”
“It’s the protoplanic force, baby.” Erica’s voice held a note of sympathy. “It works by mass-to-energy conversion…the ultimate expression of fusion power.”
Breech doubled up. Brigid reached out for him, touching him. Heat blazed through her hands, even through the fabric of her gloves. Crying out, she recoiled.
“The viral and the ghost-walkers are intermediate stages of the protoplanic event,” Erica went on. “Depending on the length and intensity of exposure, the victims can be converted immediately to the viral or it takes a while…like with you. The life span of both forms is only a few days.”
