Authors: David Clarkson
‘So if one were to attack, you could stop
it?’
‘You misunderstand. Tulpa would never
attack, as you say. The tulpa were benevolent and protected those blessed to be
in their presence. Again, I refer you back to your Hollywood movies. It is they
that took beauty and created a beast.’
‘I apologise if I have offended you. I am
just curious, that is all.’
‘I assure you that you have not offended
me. As for your curiosity, perhaps you will be so kind as to join me in
meditation later. When your mind is at rest you may find yourself more
receptive to the answers that you seek.’
‘Thank you,’ replied Emmy. ‘I will be
glad to take you up on your offer.’
Jimmy had answered all of their questions.
It did not occur to him to lie. He simply told them what they wanted to know.
Most of their questions pertained to him anyway, so he did not think that he
was betraying anybody by cooperating. They were actually a lot more civil to
him than the Americans had been with their questioning.
He told them about his powers and he expected
that they would want to see a demonstration. They did not. All they requested
was a sample of his blood to analyse. After roughly a day had passed they
returned to his cell.
‘What will you do with me now?’ he asked,
sensing they had not come to merely ask questions this time.
‘Nothing,’ replied the general. ‘You have
cooperated and given us everything that we require. I will have my men prepare
some provisions for you and then we will let you be on your way. I am sure that
with your unique abilities you will have no trouble finding the nearest
settlement from where you can arrange onward transportation.’
‘And what about Dr Rayne and the
soldiers?’
‘They need no longer concern you. You
were their prisoner and now you are a free man. I suggest you do not give them
another moment’s thought.’
A little under three hours later, Jimmy
left the compound. A fresh covering of snow concealed the tracks he and his
friends had taken on their way through the valley, but that was of little
consequence to Jimmy. The path he needed to take was shown to him and it did
not retrace his earlier steps. Instead, it led him upward and into the
mountains themselves.
General Tao, meanwhile, was most pleased
with what he had gained from his audience with the young psychic. The sample of
Jimmy’s blood had been sent straight to his underground lab for testing where
it had indeed provided the key to unlocking the potential of the radioactive
by-product from the astral projection experiments. By combining Jimmy’s mutated
blood with the serum distilled from the radiation they were finally able to
stabilise the formula. It was now ready for human consumption. First though, he
had one other use for it. He was going to use it to destroy Emmy Rayne for
good.
***
‘You saved my life,’ said Esteban.
‘We saved each other,’ replied Emmy. ‘It’s
just a shame we couldn’t do the same for Jack and Jimmy.’
Esteban’s head dropped. He did not take
failure well and to lose not one but two comrades was a particular blow.
‘Jimmy will find a way out and when he
does I’ll make sure I’m there for him. This mission is not over yet and this
time we will have the advantage. They won’t be able to trap us again.’
‘You think that was a trap?’
‘Of course, they knew we were coming,’
replied Esteban. ‘In fact, they lured us in. They knew that by shutting down
our astral capability it would result in a manned retaliation. The whole thing
was a set up to get hold of you.’
‘But they got Jimmy instead,’ said Emmy.
‘What will they do to him?’
‘That depends if they can figure out what
he is. Knowing Jimmy, this shouldn’t take them long. The kid has no concept of
deception.’
Emmy did not want to think about what
kind of experiments a hostile force could subject Jimmy too. She did know,
however, that human experimentation was not Charlie’s style. Neither was the
attack at the base. Using an energy burst to block astral travellers was one
thing, but using the technology to kill went against everything she and her
former partner stood for.
‘Something isn’t right,’ she told
Esteban. ‘Charlie would never have gone along with that attack on us. We have
to allow for the possibility that he’s no longer overseeing the Chinese astral
program. The question we need to ask ourselves is as to who will have replaced
him.’
‘My guess is the military. Didn’t the
same thing happen to your original project?’
‘It would have done had I not shut it
down. Which, we absolutely must make sure to do again. This technology cannot
become weaponised.’
‘I agree, but you have seen their
defences. It would take a sizable force to get past those astral guards. Your
EMP stunt caught them by surprise, but next time they’ll be expecting it.’
‘I know, but I already have another plan.
It’s a long shot, but one of the monks here has offered to teach me meditation.
I may be able to achieve an astral separation without technological help. That’s
something our enemy will never expect.’
‘Maybe, but I fail to see how it will
help us. The last time we approached that base as astral travellers they
repelled us before we even knew what was happening.’
‘This time it’ll be different.’
She went on to tell him about the legends
of the tulpa. He did not share in her optimism, but what other option did they
have? Reluctantly, he agreed to give her plan a try.
***
Monitoring stations were set up at several
locations. A military hospital, a civilian hospice and even a cemetery were all
marked out as possible places for an interaction. Not having astral capability
was a drawback, but it did not prevent the recording of observations. Dr Stark
was hopeful and Colonel Rodman was sceptical, but both of them had an equal
stake riding on the outcome.
The first night passed without incident.
There were fluctuations in the energy signatures of those under surveillance,
but no out of body experiences. No deaths. It was day two of the experiment
that brought with it the most promising data. The patient was named Ethel
Barlow. She was eighty six years old and suffering from chronic liver disease.
The doctors had given her three months. She lasted five.
At the moment of her passing, a small
energy signature was recorded emanating from her body. Not long after, a second,
slightly weaker energy materialised several feet above her body. At the moment
the two energies met, they vanished completely as if they had annihilated one
another. It was the exact same outcome as the ill fated experiment in the base,
but with one major difference. This time it had been expected.
The scenario was soon repeated when a
second resident of the hospice followed Mrs Barlow. This time cancer was the
cause. In both instances it took less than ten seconds for all evidence of
either energy to vanish without trace. There was now a clear link between death
and the appearance of the mysterious ‘alien’ energy signatures. The problem was
in how this connection was interpreted.
‘Angels?’ asked Colonel Rodman. ‘You’re
serious telling me that this is the best you can come up with? Angels.’
He threw Dr Stark’s report down onto his
desk. After thirty years in the military the colonel had managed to hold onto
his Christian beliefs. He had lost too many good men in the line of duty and he
had to believe that their sacrifice would not be the end. That there was a
higher purpose beyond the boundary of this life. Yet, when faced with the
prospect of confronting the literal connotations of those beliefs, he found his
faith beginning to waver.
‘We can change the name if it makes you
uncomfortable,’ the scientist told him. ‘The semantics of it aren’t important.
All that matters is finding out where those spirits are going to.’
‘Spirits? Aren’t we getting ahead of
ourselves here?’
‘Again, that is merely semantics. We can
call it life-energy if you want.’
‘I think we’ll stick with unclassified
energy source for now.’
‘Okay, all that matters is finding out
where these unclassified energy sources are going. Imagine if we could trace
them or even follow them.’
‘We don’t know that they went anywhere.
All of the data shows that when the energies meet, they annihilate one
another.’
‘That’s not possible, Colonel. It goes
against the First Law of Thermodynamics. Energy cannot be destroyed and it did
not change form – there were no fluctuations in light or temperature. It had to
have simply moved. We think that when the energies converge it opens up a
wormhole, which then collapses in on itself. Once they pass through, the
passageway is sealed off, so to speak.’
The colonel suspected that he knew where
the scientist was leading with this. Given the disastrous end to the original
astral program at Jackson’s Hill, it was a path he was reluctant to take.
‘You want to try and force open the door,
don’t you?’ the colonel said.
‘Is that so bad?’ replied the scientist.
‘Think of the possibilities.’
‘I am all too aware of the
possibilities,’ replied the colonel. ‘That is what frightens me. Doors swing
both ways. Until we know what we are dealing with, I cannot risk exposing us in
any way. Who knows what could come through? What if Jackson Fox was to return?’
‘I understand, Colonel, but we have to
consider...’
‘No buts,’ interrupted the colonel. ‘Your
orders remain unchanged. You are to monitor only, until further notice. We are
still awaiting contact with the team in Tibet. Right now, the Chinese are a
much more pressing concern.’
***
Esteban had recovered sufficiently enough
to leave his bed. He was still sceptical of Emmy’s plan, but that did not deter
him from going along with it. He even offered to act as a guinea pig. If Emmy
was to achieve an astral separation, she would attempt to interact with his
physical energy in order to prove her success.
In the projection chamber she could fall
into a trance-like state in just seconds. Without the aid of technology it took
her a little longer. She did not, however, feel the familiar rush of
separation. Instead, she felt as if the world had been put on pause. Her
physical senses deserted her. Sound, temperature, smell – she detected none.
She was aware only of herself.
She reached out, trying to feel the room
with her mind, but there was nothing. Only stillness. She concentrated more
intensely, but no matter how hard she tried, no dormant sense was activated.
Being the person she was meant that she would not give up easily. She continued
to recite an inner mantra in the hope it would take her to where she longed to
be.
Charlie had taken up yoga and meditation
at the same time he began working with Emmy in Jackson’s Hill. Having been born
and raised in the city of Melbourne, he had never been able to fully embrace
country living. It was too slow, too mundane to excite his curiosity. Rather
than mix and socialise with the inhabitants of his new home, he had spent most
of his time in solitude, which had given him the time and the space to hone his
skills.
Since his imprisonment he had been
meditating more and more. The general had provided him with nothing to distract
him. He had no books, no music and no visitors. All he had was the comfort of
his imagination. Not that his imagination had been taking him very far of late.
With his freedom taken away, he preferred to escape his thoughts rather than
indulge them.
‘That won’t work,’ said the girl who
should not have been there.
Charlie opened his eyes, breaking away
from his trance. She looked exactly the same as she had done on their previous
encounter. In fact, she looked exactly the same as she had done on their first
ever meeting. Her face had not aged one bit. Her trim figure had gained not one
ounce of weight. It was as if she had time travelled from three years earlier
to be there with him in that cell.
‘It was working just fine until you got
here,’ he told her. ‘I was in a state of perfect harmony before you interrupted
me.’
In the time since her last visit he had
thought a lot about how she was able to come to him like this. His first
thought had been that it was a trick orchestrated by General Tao. He soon ruled
this possibility out, however. The general was not clever enough to pull off so
convincing an illusion and more importantly, he did not know of Lucy.
‘Don’t you want me here?’ she asked.
‘Well, that depends on what you can do
for me,’ he replied. ‘The last time you came you said you’d be able to get me
out. Can you still do that?’
She twisted her face.
‘Are you serious? I thought you were
joking. I mean, why’d you need me to help you leave here? Surely you can come
and go at any time.’
She seemed sincere. Her eyes were
difficult to read as if she was not quite in the moment, but in a distant
faraway place, which if his theory was correct – she was. There was only one
way he could be sure.
‘How did we meet?’ he asked.
‘My car broke down, stranding me in
Jackson’s Hill. I was forced to stay at the observatory after witnessing a
murder. You were there with Emmy. Emmy loves me.’
‘I’m sure she does. How much do you
remember about me?’
‘Not much, we hardly knew each other.’
‘Let’s put that to the test, shall we.
How old am I?’
‘Thirty Three.’
‘What is my mother’s name?’
‘Cyndi; she spells it funny – like the
singer.’
‘How old was I when I lost my virginity?’
‘Nineteen. It was with your cousin. She
took pity on you for going your entire freshman year at uni without getting
laid.’
‘She is not my cousin. Her mother married
my uncle so we aren’t blood relations. Anyway, that is beside the point. What
matters is that I only told that story to one person. How did you find out
about it?’
She shrugged. Now he was getting
somewhere. It was time to alter his line of questioning.
‘How did you get into my cell?’ he asked.
This time she rolled her eyes to show her
amusement at the absurdity of his question.
‘I came in through the door, silly. How
else would I be here?’
He glanced over her shoulder. The cell
door was firmly closed, and, he assumed, securely locked. It was his guess that
she had simply materialised just before interrupting his trance.
‘Can you show me?’ he asked.
‘Sure, but I don’t see what the big deal
is.’
The door was fixed to a sliding hinge and
bolted from the outside. The lock could not be operated from within the cell.
Lucy gripped the handle and pulled. Nothing happened. She looked back at
Charlie with no attempt to mask her frustration.
‘It sometimes does that,’ he told her.
‘The hinge is a little stiff. You need to give it a sharp tug. Try pulling on
it as hard as you can.’
This time the door did move. Lucy looked
to have made very little effort, but she managed to rip the lock from its
mooring. In doing so, she also tripped an alarm.
Charlie did not plan on still being there
when the guards arrived. He grabbed Lucy by the hand in order to pull her along
the corridor, but as soon as they touched he recoiled and withdrew his hand.
Her skin did not feel right. It was neither warm nor cold, neither rough nor
smooth. It was like nothing he had felt before.
‘What’s wrong?’ she asked, suspicion
drawing a line across her brow.
Having witnessed what light work she had
made of the door, he did not wish to risk angering her.
‘Everything’s fine,’ he assured her. ‘Follow
me. We have to get out of here.’
Charlie had never been to the detention
level before, but he knew the layout regardless. He had never fully trusted the
general and had hacked into the blueprints for the facility shortly after he
started working there just in case such an eventuality should ever arise. There
was a service elevator at one end of the corridor, but first he had to get past
a manned booth. With the alarm already sounding, the guard would be expecting
him. They would not, however, be expecting Lucy.
‘Stop!’
The guard had a rifle and he levelled his
sight directly at Charlie’s heart. The scientist froze. It was not the first
time he had a gun pointed at him, but it was not for himself that he feared.
Back in Jackson’s Hill he had seen how ineffective guns were against certain
forces and he wondered if the entity standing at his side could possess the
same devastating power that his former mentor had.
‘Why does he have a gun?’ Lucy asked. ‘We
mean him no harm.’
The guard switched his gun to the girl
and then back to Charlie. He was growing agitated. To make matters worse, a
security camera mounted in the recess between the wall and the ceiling whirred
into life. It tracked the prisoner’s movements. Charlie knew the girl’s
presence would raise questions and the general was unlikely to wait for the
answers.
Sure enough, just seconds after the
camera had come into action the guard placed a hand to his ear as instructions
were given over his earpiece.
‘Don’t listen to them,’ Charlie said.
‘The general is out of control. He is no longer following directives. You have
to let us pass.’
‘Who is she?’ the guard responded,
speaking English for the benefit of his prisoners.
‘She?’ said Lucy, contempt dripping from
her tongue. ‘I have a name.’
Charlie recognised the tone in her voice
all too well and it did not belong to the girl whose car had broken down,
forcing her to take a detour in Jackson’s Hill all those years ago. The last
time he had heard that tone it had resulted in the local pub almost being destroyed
in a fire and an entire town going without power for a day.
‘Emmy, relax – I have this under
control,’ he told her.
‘Emmy? EMMY?’ the anger in the woman’s
voice rising.
In the background, Charlie heard further
orders come through the guard’s earpiece. He had blown it. The camera was
recording sound as well as images. He did not have to think too hard to guess
what the guard’s new orders would be.
‘Hold your fire, please!’ he shouted, but
the guard was not listening.
The rifle was semi-automatic and the
shots were released in one short burst. Charlie immediately dropped down to the
floor and covered his ears. He was trying to shield himself from the sound of
the bullets, but the action proved to be most fortuitous. The girl’s response
to the attack was immediate. Her screams made the overhead lighting flicker
before sending what appeared to be some sort of mini sonic boom into the path
of the guard.
The impact caught the guard square in his
chest, lifting him off his feet and carrying him backwards until he impacted
against the door of the sentry booth. He made no attempt to get back to his
feet afterwards. It did not take long for Charlie’s humanitarian instincts to
take over. The scientist could not stand aside whilst another person suffered.
If he was able to help in any way, he would.
He briefly forgot about Lucy or at least
he forgot about the thing that had taken on Lucy’s form. The guard was
unconscious. It only took him a few seconds to find a pulse and he was
confident that the guard would recover in due course. There was not enough time
to wait around and make sure though. The controls to the lift were in the
sentry booth and he quickly got to work trying to undo the lockdown brought
about by the sounding of the alarm.
All of the pass codes throughout the base
were changed at regular intervals, but he was able to crack the encryption with
ease. He and Emmy used to set each other code breaking tasks to while away the
time back when they were lab partners. She was always the best at it, but he
picked up a lot in the process. There was, however, a problem with this
particular encryption. It was in two stages. He had overridden the first, but
the second could only be accessed from a second terminal at the top of the lift
shaft.
‘There’s a problem,’ he said. ‘I may not
be able to get us out. Is there anything you can do that I can’t?’
Silence.
He looked up and the corridor was empty
save for the unconscious guard. Just as spontaneously as she had arrived, she
had now vanished, taking with her his last chance to get out of there.
Or had she?
The light above the door to the lift
changed from red to green and the door rolled open to reveal a waiting
elevator. Another light blinked on the console. It was for the internal
intercom system. He flicked the switch.
‘Get in,’ the voice said. ‘I’ve taken
care of things up here.'
He did as instructed. Within moments the
door reopened onto the main compound. She was waiting for him with two more
unconscious guards at her feet.
‘They were bad people, right?’ she asked.
Her doubt made him nervous. It suggested
her moral compass was not correctly polarised. She was unpredictable and
therefore extremely dangerous. They were still a long way from freedom.
‘They were simply doing their job,’ he
told her. ‘Any threat they may pose is relative to that which we pose to them.
I’d prefer it if you didn’t harm them.’
She did not acknowledge his request. He
could only hope that she took it onboard. The guards were all armed and he had
seen how that had provoked her earlier. For the briefest of moments he
considered picking up one of the guns, but quickly decided against it. He was a
thinker, not a fighter. Aggression was simply not in his nature.
‘What do we do when we get out of here?’
he asked.
She did not answer.
‘You must have come from somewhere,’ he
continued, regardless. ‘Where are you hiding?’
This time she was not given the
opportunity to answer. All the lights in the corridor went out, leaving them in
total darkness. It was eerily silent too. All mechanical background noises from
the electrical workings of the camp had stopped. This was not standard
protocol, but this was not a standard problem facing the general. Charlie had
to try and second guess what they were planning. He needed to think what he
would do in the general’s position.
The key to finding the solution was in
establishing the threat. He was not the danger, the girl was. It had been shown
that conventional weapons were of no use so it made sense that they would now
seek to use an unconventional weapon. The astral defence system he himself had
deployed against Emmy was a customised EMP device. If it was set to the correct
frequency there was no reason why it would not work on the entity beside him.
In a flash, he found himself once more
alone.
***
‘Emmy, Emmy!’
She jolted awake. Esteban had his hands
on her shoulders and was shaking her.
‘Emmy, are you okay?’ he asked.
‘Of course, I’m fine,’ she replied. ‘Why
did you disturb me so soon? If this is going to work, it will take time.’
Esteban looked back at her with confusion
spread across his face.
‘I was getting worried,’ he told her.
‘You had completely zoned out then all of a sudden you convulsed wildly.’
‘It was probably just the beginning of a
trance, like when you jerk yourself awake at the cusp of sleep. It may mean I
was on the verge of achieving some sort of separation.’
‘You mean to say that you didn’t? I
assumed you had some degree of success. You were gone for ages. I mean, why
else would you be in a trance for so long?’