Diamond Sky (Diamond Sky Trilogy Book 1) (31 page)

‘My mother married the man she loved. She loved my father,
not you.’

Armareth
stood and walked to the
rear of the cell, turning his back on them. There was a window, which let in a
small amount of light. As the column shone down and illuminated his face, it
seemed for a moment that Sammy had given way to
Armareth’s
former body. After a moment, he turned back around and was unmistakably the
Aboriginal once more.

‘George was a good man and I do not begrudge Flick for
marrying him, but he was always her second choice. She wanted to be with me.’

‘So why wasn’t she?’ asked Lucy.

Emmy
felt betrayed and shot her
new found friend a grimace to show her displeasure. Lucy simply shrugged in
response.

‘He deserves to tell his story,’ she replied, defensively.
‘You obviously have your preconceptions, but I believe him.’

‘You don’t know him.’

‘Neither do you.’

Emmy
was starting to lose her cool
and they were no further forward in coming up with a plan to deal with the
radiation. She turned back to
Armareth
.

‘Is any of this relevant?’ she asked. ‘What I need to know
is what you can tell us about this psychic radiation everyone is experiencing.
It seems that the dead can see it. Is there a way to stop it?’

‘You’re asking the wrong man. Your grandfather is the only
one who knows the answer to that.’

Emmy
leapt to her feet and beat
her fists in the air.

‘This is a complete waste of time!’ she shouted.

‘Wait,’ said Lucy. ‘Give him one more chance.’

Then turning to
Armareth
, she
asked, ‘you told us that Mike is dead. If that is the case; who is it up at the
observatory with Lucas?’

Armareth
did not respond with
words. He looked
Emmy
straight in the eye and she
knew what he was thinking.

‘That’s impossible,’ she said, but deep down she knew that
it was true.

***

Lucas woke in darkness. As his eyes adjusted, he could
make out a curved ceiling of some sort just above his head. Then it hit him; he
was inside the strange machine he had seen earlier. He tried to move, but his
body had been bound tightly, rendering him completely helpless.

When he set out for the observatory everything had been
clear. All he had to do was arrest the villain and wait for
Emmy
and Charlie to come up with a cure for everybody. Of course, that was before he
knew who that villain was.

‘I don’t understand,’ he called out. ‘Do you plan on killing
me like you did the others?’

‘Oh, now come, Lucas,’ replied the voice from outside of the
chamber. ‘Please do not be so short sighted your whole life; however much
shorter that may be. Surely the fact I stand before you now tells you that
death is not the end and that being the case, murder is but a trifling thing.’

With each word emitted, the voice was more that of the
professor’s rather than of the soldier whose body he inhabited. Lucas only knew
Jackson Fox as a crippled old man in a wheelchair, but he had seen many
photographs of the great man in his prime.
The man whose
spirit was now wearing the body of a dead soldier like a cowl.

‘Why did you do it?’

‘You really are a fool, aren’t you? Do you know what it was
like to spend all those years trapped in a useless body whilst having to watch
young men like yourself waste their youth, their strength and their potential?
I became a prisoner of this wretched town, whilst you actually chose to throw
your life away on it. Well, I no longer have to merely watch. This body has
grown weak, like my old one. It is time that I got an upgrade.’

Lucas now knew what the machine was for.

‘You are going to steal my body – is that your plan?’

‘You still don’t get it. This is not a plan. All I am doing
is what anybody else would do in my position – trying to survive. Mike’s body
has grown weak. Perhaps yours will do the same, but I have to try.’

‘You don’t – you have a choice. You can stop this.
Emmy
and Charlie can come up with a cure for everybody. It
does not have to end like this.’

‘This is not the end - far from it. This, my friend, is only
the beginning.’

***

‘Can’t we go any faster,’ shouted
Emmy
.

‘Not unless you want us to veer off into a ditch,’ replied
Lucy.

The girls and David
Armareth
were
on their way to the observatory. Charlie had stayed behind to warn others of
what he knew, should they not make it back.
Emmy
saw
what they were doing as a rescue mission, with both Lucas and her grandfather
needing their help. Lucy and the other passenger knew that this was probably
not going to be the case.

‘I’m just worried that if we don’t make it in time, Lucas
could make a terrible mistake,’ said
Emmy
.

‘You’re worried that Lucas could make a mistake?’ replied
Lucy. ‘Don’t forget it is your grandfather who has been doing the killing. I’m
more concerned that Lucas will be next.’

‘He’s confused. His spirit is trapped in a body it was never
intended for. Memories and emotions are all physical properties of the brain.
We cannot begin to imagine what it must be like to experience the world through
the emotions of another.’

‘You’re forgetting that he’s only in this position because
he stole that body to begin with and killed a man in the process.’

‘We don’t know that. We only have his word for that,’ she
scowled at
Armareth
. ‘For all we know, he got pulled
in as a result of this radiation problem.’

Lucy did not answer and the silence told
Emmy
what the others thought of her theory. Frustrated and afraid, she sat back in
her seat and waited to face whatever was in store at the observatory. Lucy
pulled in alongside Lucas’ truck, but
Emmy
told her
not to get out.

‘Give me five minutes alone with him,’ she said. ‘If it is
not too late, I may be able to talk some sense into him.’

Lucy nodded and
Armareth
did not
say a thing.
Emmy
got out of the car and ran inside
of the building before making her way to the laboratory. Lucas was sitting on
the edge of the slab and appeared unhurt. Her grandfather, or at least the body
he may have temporarily occupied, lay lifeless on the floor.

‘Am I too late?’ she asked.

Lucas looked up at her. His eyes were dark and wracked with
guilt.

‘I had no choice,’ he told her. ‘It was me or him. I am
sorry that it had to be this way.’

‘Did you speak to him before he died?’

‘Yes, he was quite mad. It was the radiation that did it.’

‘At least now he will be at peace.’

She knelt down and looked at the body, but could see only
the corpse of a soldier.

‘I wish I could have had once last chance to speak with
him,’ she said. ‘I have so many questions I need answering.’

‘Why don’t you ask him now,’ said an unwelcome voice from
over her shoulder by the door.

It was
Armareth
. Lucy was not with
him, but his handcuffs had been removed.

‘What are you doing?’ she asked him. ‘We are too late. Pops
is dead.’

‘No,’ replied
Armareth
. ‘I can see
him sitting right over there.’

At first, she thought he was seeing her grandfather’s
spirit, returned from another realm the same way that Lucy’s father had. Then
she realised he was referring to Lucas, who was watching the newcomer
cautiously.

‘What are you saying?’ she asked.

‘I am saying that you were right; we are too late. Jackson
already took what he wanted. I’m afraid that our good friend Lucas is the one
who is now dead.’

‘You’re lying,’ she told him, then turning to Lucas, ‘tell
him that it isn’t true.’

‘Did you bring him here?’

‘I thought he would be able to help.’

‘He’s dangerous. Go back to the car and I will take care of
him.’

She could see a ruthless determination in his eyes that she
had never before seen in Lucas. She took a step away from him.

‘He’s telling the truth; isn’t he? You killed Lucas just
like you killed Mike and Bradley.’

When Lucas did not reply, she knew it was not really him.
She retreated further away towards the prospective safety of the man she had
once blamed for tearing her family apart.

‘How many other lies did you tell?’ she asked. ‘How did you
really lose your legs?’

‘
Emmy
, I don’t know what you mean.
It’s me; Lucas. He’s trying to mess with your head. The radiation is at its
strongest point here, you have to try and be strong to block it out.’

‘Tell me how you lost your legs,’ she repeated.

‘He asked me to meet him here,’ said
Armareth
.
‘Just like he did two days ago when he framed me for murder.
I was young and naive and thought that maybe I could talk him into letting me
see Flick.’

‘Do not say her name!’ shouted Fox. ‘You have no right to
speak her name.’

‘When I saw him, he tried to pay me off. Ten thousand,
twenty thousand, fifty thousand; he just kept raising the price. Only he could
be so callous as to try and put a value on his own daughter. I told him I was
not interested and that I was going to marry her. That was when he showed his
true colours. He pulled out a shotgun. He said he would tell the police I had
broken in to rob the place and that he had shot me in self defence. I had no
choice but to run. He followed me and that is when he ruined everybody’s
lives.’

‘Enough!’ shouted Fox, lurching forward, running towards
Armareth
.

The other man was ready for him and used Sammy’s
considerable bulk to soak up much of the initial momentum of the attack.
Knowing that she could do little to affect the outcome of the fight,
Emmy
ran to take cover behind the bank of control monitors.
She noticed that the machines were up and running. The energy signatures of
both men showed up clearly on the display, with the dual spirited body of Sammy
being easily distinguishable by its greater luminescence. When the two men
touched, she noticed something bizarre happened. It was as if the entire
laboratory became filled with an intense energy the like of which she had never
seen before. She thought back to what had happened when she had touched Lucy’s
father the first time and the doorway that had opened.

‘You have to hold him,’ she shouted to
Armareth
.
‘Once he crosses over, he will have no power in this world.’

‘Are you sure?’ replied
Armareth
.

‘Trust me, it is the only way. When two spirits connect it
opens up some sort of portal, like a wormhole in space and time. At least, that
is what I think it is.’

‘Save the science for somebody who understands. All I need
to know is will this portal of yours hold him?’

‘I guess so. We have to try.’

She watched as Sammy’s broad arms wrapped around the torso
of Lucas’ body, squeezing tightly around the man hiding inside.

‘Can you see it?’ she shouted.

‘See what?’ replied
Armareth
.

‘The portal; it leads on to whatever follows this life. You
should feel a pull towards it when you both touch.’

Armareth
looked around and in
doing so, temporarily lowered his concentration, allowing his foe to wriggle
free. Fox knew that he could not best Sammy in close combat and retreated to a
corner of the laboratory where he picked up Mike’s old gun.

‘I’m already dead,’
Armareth
told
him. ‘I have nothing to fear from dying again.’

‘What about Sammy,’ replied
Fox.
‘Would you be willing to give up his life in order to deny me mine.’

‘He does not have to make that choice,’ this time the voice
was clearly Sammy’s and not
Armareth’s
. ‘If you live,
we all die anyway. I will gladly give my life to save others.’

‘In that case,’ replied Fox. ‘I grant you your wish.’

He squeezed the trigger twice, putting two bullets into the
Aboriginal man’s stomach.

‘
Noooo
!’
Emmy
screamed out and ran toward Fox.

Her grandfather slapped her down with the back of his hand.
As she lay helpless on the floor, he raised the barrel of his gun towards her.

‘You always did take after him,’ he said. ‘There was a time
when I was in denial, but with each failure, I just see him more and more in
you.’

Sammy’s body lay still at the centre of a rapidly expanding
pool of blood. There was nothing more that he could do to help her.
Emmy
closed her eyes and braced for the moment when the
bullet would take her life.

Chapter 36

Davo
had been adamant that Lucy
was to remain in the car. She thought fear would hold her to her promise, but
once she heard the gunshots coming from the laboratory she knew she had to try
to do something. There were no weapons in the car and the only item that was at
hand was the set of handcuffs she had earlier taken off Sammy’s wrists to
enable
Armareth
to leave the car. She picked these up
and ran into the building.

I really hope that you are watching over me right now,
dad.

Sammy or
Davo
, well, both of them,
was lying on the floor, covered in blood.
Emmy
was also
on the floor, but did not look hurt and she had Lucas with her, so Lucy went to
the Aboriginal first.

‘Oh God,’ she said. ‘What happened?’

‘H-have to stop him,’ the stricken man stammered; she
assumed it to be
Armareth
.

She looked around and saw Mike’s lifeless body on the floor
across the other side of the laboratory.

‘It’s okay,’ she told him. ‘I think that Mike’s been taken
care of and Lucas is with
Emmy
. Everything is going
to be okay.’

With a sudden renewal of energy, the Aboriginal embodiment
of
Armareth
pushed himself back up onto one knee.

‘It’s not Lucas,’ he told her. ‘It’s Fox; he already took
Lucas’ body. I have to stop him. If I can hold him for long enough I can force
him to cross over. It’s our only chance.’

If that was not Lucas, then
Emmy
was in serious trouble.

‘How long must you hold him for?’

‘I don’t know; seconds, minutes maybe? All I know is that I
have to try.’

She looked back at Lucas who now had a gun pointed at
Emmy
. There was barely a scratch on him. He would have no
trouble breaking free of the wounded man’s grip. Then she had an idea. She
reached into her pocket and took out the item she had taken from the car.

‘Put these on him,’ she said, handing the handcuffs to
Armareth
. ‘If you can hold on long enough, he will be
unable to break free of you.’

The injured man nodded. He affixed one half of the handcuffs
around his left wrist. Then he gathered every ounce of energy he had left and
rose to his feet.

‘Fox,’ he called out. ‘I am not finished with you yet!’

The professor turned towards the Aboriginal, taking his eyes
away from
Emmy
. The young scientist used this
distraction to her advantage and swung her arm, knocking the gun from her
grandfather’s hands before running to the other side of the lab.

At first, Fox was torn. His initial instinct was to follow
Emmy
, but he could not ignore the threat posed by a
desperate man. As his foe ran towards him, he braced for the collision and
attempted to turn the other man’s momentum against him, but as he pushed
Armareth
away, something went wrong. He felt an
irresistible pull on his wrist and was dragged down to the floor, landing on
top of Sammy’s body. He tried to stand and that was when he noticed the
handcuffs.

‘It’s over, Jackson,’ said
Armareth
.
‘I’m taking you to where you belong.’

Fox tried again to wriggle his hand free, but there was no
give.
Armareth
clasped his hand over his wrist and
the room around them dramatically shifted its perspective. The opening
accelerated towards them before Fox could even figure out what it was. He
screamed out with all of his might and then he was gone. Sammy’s body,
meanwhile, remained rooted to reality. The half empty cuff dangled loosely from
his wrist. He had done it. Fox was finally gone. The girls ran to him.

‘Where did he go?’ asked Lucy.

‘It does not matter,’ he replied, rising up onto one knee.
‘The important thing is that he has indeed gone.’

‘And Lucas?’

This time he could not answer her. He turned instead to
Emmy
.

‘I’m sorry,’ she told them. ‘He was already dead. The cord
had been cut. There was no way for him to come back.’

Lucy closed her eyes and pushed all of the pain, all of the
heartache to the back of her mind. When she reopened them she realised it was
not completely over. The Aboriginal still had a gaping wound in his stomach. As
if her awareness of the wound had reawakened his pain, he fell to the floor.

‘Oh God,’ said
Emmy
. ‘Sammy, you
have to hold on.’

‘I’m afraid that Sammy has already gone.’

‘Mr
Armareth
?’

The fallen man laughed.

‘You don’t have to be quite so...formal.’

She looked into his eyes and saw that he told the truth.
Something about the eyes, however, had changed. Obviously, they did not look
like Sammy’s, but they did not look exactly like
Armareth’s
either; at least not since she had known him. They were the eyes from the
photograph, where he had looked so happy with her mother.

‘We have to get you to a hospital,’ said Lucy. ‘We can still
help you.’

‘No,’ he told her. ‘It’s much too late for me. Besides, this
body was only borrowed and I didn’t do a very good job of looking after it.
It’s time that I went too.’

‘You’ll be okay,’ Lucy told him. ‘She will be waiting for
you.’

She glanced up at
Emmy
and
realised that her words may not have been appropriate. The scientist’s
expression had changed too. The anger, fear and even the sadness that she had
been burdened with for so long had also gone away.

‘Before you go, there is something I have to know,’
Emmy
said to
Armareth
. ‘You never
finished your story.’

‘I think that in your heart, you already know how that story
ended.’

‘I need to hear it.’

Armareth
coughed to clear his
throat of the blood that filled his airways.

‘When I ran from your grandfather that night, I thought I would
always be running. I could not let him keep me from Flick. Somehow, I thought
we could make it work so long as we ran together. Unfortunately, I would only
get to see her one more time. She was driving home as I fled from the building.
I ran into the road directly in front of her. She swerved into Jackson as he
chased behind me.’

‘That is how Pops lost his legs; my mother ran him down?’

‘I never knew if she blamed me or if she blamed herself.
From that day on she was never the same. Pity kept her bound to him. She did
whatever he asked of her. It was Jackson who wanted her to marry George. If an
accident had not taken both their lives a year later, she would always have
been ruled by him.’

Emmy
went quiet and Lucy knew what
she was thinking.
Armareth
did not have long left and
he lay back, resting his head on the cold floor and his breathing slowed.

‘George was not my father, was he?’
Emmy
finally asked.

‘He was a good man,’ replied
Armareth
,
‘and I do not want you to think any less of him’.

‘I never knew him,’ replied
Emmy
,
with a tear running down her cheek.

‘She never said for certain, but I always knew. The timing
made sense and then when I heard what she had named you, I finally knew for
sure. The night we fell in love was at a gig in Alice. The band was not great,
mostly doing covers of popular rock songs from that time. Guns n’ Roses were
big back then. We shared our first kiss to a rendition of one of their hits. I
think you know which one.’

The sole tear was joined by more until her entire face was
streaming forth with years of pent up emotion.
Emmy
raised him up in her arms and for the first and last time, she got to hug her
daddy. Then, he too, was gone.

‘He always loved you,’ said Lucy.

‘I know,’ replied
Emmy
.

Lucy looked into the scientist’s eyes and saw herself from
just a week earlier. The only difference was that her loss had been balanced by
a lifetime of happy memories. She put her arm around
Emmy
to offer comfort and as they hugged more tightly, all of their doubts and
feelings of grief were pushed aside. She was not aware of who instigated the
kiss, only that she did not want it to end.