Authors: David Clarkson
The images supplied by satellite
surveillance were inconclusive. They did, however, provide the strongest lead
yet on the missing scientist. If the Americans had not yet found her, they were
getting extremely close.
The team appeared to be black-ops. Its
apparent leader was a onetime Special Forces operative believed to have gone
rogue. He had sacrificed his previous career in order to save the life of a
headstrong young woman not too dissimilar from the current mark. If they were
looking for Emmy Rayne then the presence of Esteban Cruz confirmed that their
intentions were to take her alive. This, in turn, implied two things.
Firstly, they had not yet developed
astral capability.
Secondly, they still had every intention
of achieving that goal.
Charles Nguyen was the man tasked with
making sure they would not be successful. Since his escape from Jackson’s Hill
three years earlier, he had been afforded seemingly limitless resources in
order to rebuild and refine the technology that had taken first the sanity and
then the life of his former mentor; Professor Jackson Fox. Thus far the project
had been an overwhelming success.
Once astral capability had been achieved,
the first obstacle to overcome was the radiation problem. By installing lead
shielding around the projection chambers, which could be flushed after each
journey, they were able to filter and channel the radiation into containment
tanks buried deep underground.
With the radiation problem solved,
Charlie had then been able to take the research to levels that neither he nor
Emmy could have dreamed of when they had started out. Of course, this was
balanced by a redefining of his objectives. Defence rather than exploration was
now at the heart of his work. Thousands of miles of borders could be patrolled
by a small team of just a few men and they had the power to repel any attack –
either physical or otherwise.
Unlike the Americans, China was not so
preoccupied with interfering in the affairs of other nations. They did not rely
on instability in the Middle East to strengthen their trade position. They
already held a monopoly on exports in practically every industry. They were
reinforcing their position as the world’s fastest growing economy and the flow
of the money was weighted strongly in one direction. Put into the simplest
possible terms; they received a lot more than they gave.
‘How long will it take you to find her?’
asked General Tao.
‘Assuming it was Dr Rayne on the train,
and that is by no means certain, they will take her to a covert base of
operations. Depending on how far along their program is; she could help them to
achieve astral capability in a matter of days. All we then have to do is wait.’
‘For her to show herself?’
‘Yes. She will have to test her work and
I believe I know exactly where she will do that. I will be waiting for her.’
The general showed his approval with a
delicate bow of his head.
‘Will you be going hard or soft?’
Hard and soft were the terms given to the
two levels of astral travelling. Back in Jackson’s Hill, only a soft journey
had been possible. This was the standard out of body experience where physical
interaction with the material world was all but impossible. It was the safest
and most stable application of the technology.
‘Soft will be adequate to set the trap.
Emmy has been out of the game for a long time. She could not begin to guess at
what we will have in store for her.’
‘Excellent. In that case, I will trust
you to make the necessary preparations.’
Charlie offered the general a bow and
then watched as his commander left the laboratory. Once he was alone, he let
out a large gasp of air.
The general made him nervous. Members of
the military always did. After the appalling handling of the crisis in
Jackson’s Hill, he had little doubt that soldiers were not equipped to deal
with this new technology as either friend or foe. There was no way that he
would allow his work to directly aid the military, but if he was successful, he
hoped it may be used to negate the military.
There was only one obstacle left that
posed any real risk to his research. Emmy had once been his partner and she had
always been his friend. They had worked on the astral project together from the
start. Betraying her was not going to be easy.
He only hoped that when she saw how far
he had come without her, she would understand. Because if she did not, she
would become his enemy. It was a prospect that saddened and terrified him in
equal measure.
If there was ever any doubt as to whether
she would cooperate with the Americans, it was removed when she saw the
hibernating residents of her hometown. It was the first time she had witnessed
the consequences of the radiation on the wider population as opposed to just
what it had done to her grandfather. Until that moment she had always focused
on the cause rather than the effect.
They were completely helpless and she was
their only hope. Not only that, she was also the reason why they were now
trapped as prisoners in their own bodies. The fundamental purpose of science
was to aid and protect mankind. Her lust for discovery had yielded the opposite
result and she had to make things right.
As ever, the military were prepared to
place as much trust in her as she could reliably place in them. This was, of
course, none whatsoever. They insisted she undergo a polygraph test and that
she should also face a rigid interrogation by a psychiatrist. It was an
inconvenience for her to have to do this, but relatively speaking, only a small
compromise to make.
The first two sessions with the shrink
proved beyond reasonable doubt that she was mentally competent and entering
into the process without ulterior motive. The third session did not run quite
so smoothly, as this time the focus was placed upon the implications of her
work rather than her mental faculties. This took them beyond the boundaries of
established science and into the realm of metaphysics, which is highly
subjective, to say the least.
‘Tell me again,’ began the psychiatrist,
a woman of greater age but significantly lesser intelligence than Emmy. ‘How is
it that you believe you can travel such vast distances in an astral state?’
‘I believe it simply because it is the
truth,’ Emmy replied.
The psychiatrist was unconvinced.
‘I do not doubt the experiments you were
engaged in were successful to a certain extent, but surely the ability to
travel from the Earth to the outer solar system is in direct contradiction with
the laws of physics.’
‘Maybe if you actually read the research,
you’d understand,’ suggested Emmy, who was already tiring of the conversation.
‘I want to hear it from you,’ replied the
psychiatrist.
Emmy rolled her eyes. They knew the
technology worked otherwise they would have no use for her. Yet they still
insisted on such tiresome bureaucracy. She wondered if this whole thing was a
deliberate set up for her to fail, which could later be used as evidence
against her on whatever bogus charges they could come up with.
‘The process is called quantum
tunnelling,’ said Emmy. ‘Particle physicists witness its occurrence quite
regularly. Usually it involves a single particle that appears to burrow through
solid matter. What actually happens is that the particle disappears on one side
of a wall and then reappears instantaneously on the other. It’s sometimes
referred to as a quantum leap, but thanks to a certain sci-fi program from the
nineteen nineties, the term has fallen out of favour.’
‘So it’s like a form of teleportation?’
‘Exactly – and thanks to the technology,
we can greatly amplify the effects. Hence, my consciousness was able to travel
from one side of the solar system to the other at the speed of thought.’
The psychiatrist was taking notes.
Judging by the length of the writing involved, they were analytical and
speculative, rather than just a shorthand version of what was being said. This
made sense as Emmy had no doubt the interview was being recorded.
‘So could the machine be used to teleport
a material body, like an actual person, for example?’
‘No – that’s impossible. One of the few
guarantees in science is that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. In any
closed system the net amount of energy within will always stay the same; the
books have to balance and all debts must be paid in full and on time. What
effectively happens is that the particle borrows energy in order to make the
jump, but then has to repay the debt as soon as it re-materialises.
Essentially, it sacrifices its remaining lifespan to do this. The only way that
teleportation would work is to have a means of replenishing the energy lost at
the point of re-emergence. If you want to physically cross space then you’d
need technology at both sides.’
‘But this doesn’t apply to astral
travelling?’
‘Energy by its very nature is more lucid
than matter. The cost of making the trip is not so great and the technology
that we used effectively paid the energy price in advance. If an imbalance did
occur then the cord would pull the traveller back instantly.’
‘The cord?’
‘Figuratively speaking,’ replied Emmy.
‘It doesn’t exist in a literal sense. It’s not like an astral traveller is
physically tethered by a rope. It comes down to another quantum process known
as entanglement. When two particles are entangled they’ll always mirror one
another no matter the separation between them. Even when light years apart; one
will instantly know if a change has occurred in the other. That’s how we were
always able to find our way back home. Of course, it is possible to break the
signal. If a second astral being were to cross the cord it would produce
interference and therefore sever the bond between mind and body.’
‘Is that what your grandfather did?’
Emmy tensed.
‘Yes.’ She took a deep breath before
continuing. ‘Although we can’t see the cord in a conventional sense, we are
aware of it. It’s very hard to explain to anyone who hasn’t travelled, but
without the physical senses, we can place our surroundings only by an intuitive
awareness of matter. With experience the awareness increases and in time I even
learned to distinguish between different animals.’
‘So once Professor Fox had severed the
cord of his victim,’ she briefly checked her notes, ‘Captain Peters - he stole
his body.’
‘Yes, but the manifestation wasn’t
permanent. The body ultimately rejected him and he had to take another, which
also rejected him. He then tried to steal mine and I resisted. After that,
nature finally took its course.’
Emmy noticed that the psychiatrist closed
her notepad and withdrew another despite it being far from full. She sensed a
change in the direction of the examination.
‘That is when you went on the run?’ the
doctor asked.
‘I first made sure the technology was
rendered useless, but yes; that was when we left.’
‘We?’
The psychiatrist briefly stumbled on her
notes, but quickly regained composure. It had not occurred to Emmy that they
did not know about Lucy. She inwardly cursed herself for making such a clumsy
error, but it was too late to backtrack.
‘Lucy Skye was with me. She wasn’t a
resident of the town, but a traveller passing through when her car broke down.
She witnessed one of the murders and was subsequently held prisoner by my
grandfather. When the military assumed control of the facility they forced her
into the machine as a guinea pig. Her return was not...instant.’
The memories of the cruelty inflicted
upon her former lover still stung. She clenched her fists, tightly digging her
nails into the flesh of her palms. The physical pain helped to block out the
emotional.
‘In a way this was lucky,’ she continued.
‘When my grandfather attacked, he didn’t leave any survivors. When Lucy’s
spirit finally returned to her body, he was already dead. We travelled together
for a brief time after that.’
‘And where is Lucy now?’
Emmy bowed her head. Her reply was barely
audible.
‘She’s gone.’
***
James Earl was eager to know how Dr Rayne
had performed in her psyche evaluation. Putting a civilian in charge of his
country’s flagship science project was one thing, but recruiting a fugitive for
such a project with military applications was a serious gamble and it was his
head on the block should everything not go to plan.
The catastrophe of three years earlier
had the potential to be a public relations nightmare. The fact it happened on
foreign soil would only have added to the embarrassment had details entered the
public domain. Both the US and Australian Governments went to great lengths to
prevent this from happening. The cover story of a radiation leak may have explained
the destruction of the town, but the deaths of so many American service men and
women still caused the current administration a great deal of damage.
It was decided that any further
developments in the astral field would have to be rubber stamped by the highest
level of government. This time the military were not the ones making the
decisions. That privilege now fell to James Earl and he wanted to make sure
those subordinate to him knew it.
The colonel had been the first to look
over the report and he was far from satisfied by the information it contained.
Though Dr Rayne’s technical knowledge was as great as they had hoped, she could
not be trusted. The potential of another disaster such as what happened at
Jackson’s Hill would always be hanging over them with her on the team.
‘What steps are you taking to keep Dr
Rayne in line?’ he asked Earl. ‘There’s a strong chance she’ll betray us at the
first opportunity.’
‘It’s more than a strong chance,’ replied
the politician. ‘I would say it’s an outright certainty.’
‘So, I repeat - what steps are you taking
to prevent this?’
‘Agent Cruz is assigned to her security,
is he not? He’ll be watching her at all times.’
‘And you’re confident he can keep her in
line?’
‘Not at all, Colonel. Given Agent Cruz’s
history, he is likely to aide Dr Rayne should she try to escape or interfere
with the project. He is unparalleled at what he does, but he also has a problem
executing certain orders when vulnerable people are involved, particularly
women. You yourself stated that he has already shown compassion towards her.’
‘So why must we keep him on the team? He
brought us the psychic kid and now he has delivered the girl. Perhaps it’s time
to let him go, sir.’
‘That is simply not an option right now,
Colonel. Dr Rayne will only play ball if there is somebody she feels she can
trust. We have many agents who can fake a polygraph, but none that can bluff a
psychic. Agent Cruz is vital to both her and Jimmy Johnson’s cooperation.’
‘So what is there to stop any of these
people from betraying us?’
‘The townspeople you’re holding in the
medical bay. With their lives in the balance, I believe Dr Rayne is almost certain
to see this project through.’
‘Almost? I’m assuming you have a
contingency plan.’
‘Of course. Should a more powerful form
of persuasion be required to retain the services of the doctor, we have more
than sufficient leverage to ensure her continued cooperation.’
‘In that case, sir, Emmy Rayne is now
officially part of Operation Sleepwalker.’
***
A slew of painful memories had been
dredged up during her final meeting with the psychiatrist. As such, she
struggled to disengage her mind and sleep was not forthcoming. All she was able
to think about was Lucy. She could no longer even remember what had driven her
former lover away. All she knew was that given the time again, she would do
things differently.
Everything Emmy had ever owned or worked
for had been lost at Jackson’s Hill. Her only consolation was that without the
tragedy that brought them together, she would never have had Lucy in her life.
It was the only good to come out of a whole load of bad. For that simple
reason, the relationship had seemed more special than any that went before.
It was precious.
Without it, everything she had sacrificed
would have been for nothing.
She longed to return to her lover’s arms.
More so now than ever before. In her heart she knew there was no going back,
but that did not stop her from allowing herself to pretend. Her memories were
all that was left of her relationship with Lucy, but her imagination could keep
those memories close. Make it feel like she still had hope.
By closing her eyes and allowing her
emotions to be soaked up by her memories, she could actually feel the touch of
her lover. She could feel Lucy’s fingers as they traced a sensual path down the
centre of her body, stopping only briefly to caress her breasts and to stroke
the delicate contours of her abdomen.
It was a feeling she had not experienced
for far too long. Loneliness was painful, but it was also a choice. She chose
now to reject it. Blocking out the negative thoughts and replacing them with
something stronger, she pulled the past closer to her and wrapped herself up in
it like a blanket.
The fingers went lower. She blocked out
all other thoughts and sensations as her legs were slowly parted, followed by a
warm, moist pressure around her clitoris. She imagined Lucy’s eyes staring up
at her, playful and demure. As the intensity of her desire increased she let go
of all reason and surrendered herself to the burning ecstasy of orgasm.