With These Eyes (13 page)

"Engage auto guidance, Spitsbergen home."
Fuji's voice-command showed up on the paired screens in front of
them.

A map of the world with Los Angeles and the
Arctic destination plotted their course through earth's ionosphere.
A timer showed:

Travel Time Remaining: 25:00 minutes

Fuji unfastened his seat belt. "You'll love
this," he said, and floated virtually weightless towards the
cockpit door.

Isabelle followed suit and together, they
pushed themselves into the main cabin. Tonati was amazingly calm
for a wildcat in restraints. Isabelle had taken him on trips
before, but never to space. He looked puzzled at Fuji and Isabelle
floating about.

"Tonati, you wanna try?"

Isabelle's question was returned with a
disagreeing snarl. She gave him a kiss and Tonati was fine.
Portholes on ceiling and walls of the cabin afforded this unique
group of travelers a spectacular view. Below, clusters of light
marked the world's cities. Above them was the endlessness of space.
The huge moon looked like it was almost close enough to reach. The
ship traveled so fast through the ionized part of the atmosphere
that a bright yellow glow surrounded it.

"This is so beautiful" said Isabelle and for
a moment all her problems seemed minute as she marveled in the
beauty of the universe.

Back on the ground, Tasha and her Troopers
had arrived at the
Apophis Aerospace Works
compound in
Lancaster, the next desert community north of Palmdale. There,
Tasha's employer operated a large weapons facility with its own
airstrip. The compound also housed one of Tasha's favorite weapons:
a stealth bomber cargo-conversion that had been customized for
surveillance to her specifications. The supersonic jet served as a
transport for her troops and until this day, no suspect had ever
outrun her. The craft was undetectable by civilian and military
radar and afforded Tasha the luxury of crossing international
borders without having to answer to authorities. Governments and
their agendas didn't matter much to Tasha. In her eyes, it was the
company who truly was in charge in most countries, and she did
whatever it took to uphold that power structure.

Tasha's clandestine convoy of darkness
populated the hangar. The covert cars lined up next to the command
post. Across from them was Tasha's troop carrier. Rows of water
bottles swung open, leaving quick access to the truck's secret
interior. Tasha's Troopers were loading gear from their cars and
the water truck into an open hatch in the aft of the single-engine
jet. The black aircraft looked very unusual with its pyramid-shaped
cockpit and irregular edges. A purple stripe stretched from cockpit
to tail fin, Tasha's personal touch. The pilot had taken his seat
in the cockpit and started the enormous jet engine. Its roar echoed
throughout. A familiar surveillance setup filled the lion-share of
the cabin. Two Troopers took their seat behind the multimedia
console and powered up the craft's computer system. The main screen
came to life and soon showed a simulated model of the earth. A
global network of satellites was shown tracking Fuji's spaceplane.
The Trooper turned his head towards Tasha, who was boarding the
plane.

"Ma'am, package has gone suborbital."

Tasha was grinding her teeth. She was not
used to being left in the dust like this.

Part 2 - Quest for the Truth

16 ARRIVAL IN SPITSBERGEN

Fuji and Isabelle were back in their seats in
the cockpit. The courageous journalist took a look at the screen
before her.

Travel Time Remaining: 01min 29s

Isabelle was worried about her father and
wondered if the Arctic would provide the privacy she sought to
solve her problems. The young journalist had to devise a plan. She
knew she couldn't run away from her pursuers for the rest of her
life. The tranquility of space had yielded to the concerns that
prompted her to embark on this journey. Below laid the frozen
landscape of the island Spitsbergen, part of a Scandinavian
archipelago far beyond the Arctic circle. Researchers and the
descendants of an old mining community had made it their frosty
home away from the busy parts of the world. On the far end of the
island, a single point of light marked the Apophis Corporation’s
seed-bank.

Fuji disengaged the auto pilot and took the
yoke. He commented, "I prefer to land on solid ground like
this."

"What else would you chose?"

"I set down on water."

Fuji extended the plane's undercarriage for
ice. A set of skids appeared where the wheels had carried the
fuselage during take-off.

As the craft descended, Isabelle saw its
powerful landing lights illuminate a plateau in the center of the
island, high above the town. A runway that looked like it had been
melted and refrozen many times stretched along the length of the
icy flats. Overlooking the town were a hangar and an
unusual-looking house. The timer in front of Isabelle reached
zero
and the plane's skids touched down on the frozen
airstrip.

"Welcome to my home away from it all.
Sometimes I just come here for the day." Fuji taxied the craft into
the hangar. A long hallway lead the trio to the entryway of Fuji's
retreat, where they were greeted by his manservant Kato. Fuji
introduced them. "Hello Kato, this is Isabelle, she's going to stay
here for a while."

Kato shook Isabelle’s hand in greeting. His
handshake felt uncomfortably moist and limp. "Hello Isabelle, what
a beautiful cat." Tonati snarled at him, he sensed something wasn't
right about Kato, who took a step backwards. "Looks like he doesn't
like everyone."

Over the years, Isabelle had learned that an
animal's instinct was very reliable and that Tonati was a good
judge of character. This was what Fuji had taught Isabelle about
herself. She had learned how to listen to her instinct when making
decisions. He had taught her that everyone is born with instinct
and intuition, nature's way of ensuring the survival of each
species. Isabelle saw how the logic that was dictated by schools
and society stopped people from following their gut-feelings in
most of life's situations. Tonati's reaction to Kato was enough
reason to use caution in her interactions with the man who had so
much access to Fuji's personal life.

"No, he's usually really nice with people."
Isabelle looked Kato in the eyes as she delivered her response.

He couldn't hold eye contact with her and
turned to Fuji. "Let me take your luggage." Kato scurried off.

Fuji and Isabelle were standing in the
retreat's central area. Several doorways lead to rooms from there.
Isabelle looked around the room. Northern Lights were dancing in
the night sky outside the large panoramic windows that defined one
of the walls.

"There's a jar with money on the bookcase,
help yourself."

Isabelle's mind was thinking about something
else. She looked at all the photos that hung framed on the walls.
Fuji knew what subject was burning on her mind. Isabelle continued
to take in the pictures when he heard her ask.

"So this is where you met my mother?"

Although Isabelle's wasn't looking at him,
Fuji nodded. It was time to explain what he could. "I had sought
refuge in the peace of the Arctic to focus on my studies. This was
before I had the spaceplane and the journey was long. Your mother
and I spoke one day. We found out both of us were about to uncover
the mysteries of the universe."

"And did you?" Isabelle's eyes paused on one
of the pictures. The photo showed Gemma coming out of one of the
doors along that same wall. Her mother's expression was one of
triumph and jubilation. Behind her, a bright glow emanated from the
partially open door. The light inside the other room was so bright
that it had washed out any detail inside.

"Each of us was lacking a crucial facet of
understanding that kept us from solving this great puzzle. I was
able to open your mother's eyes to look at what laid beyond the
boundaries of conventional science."

Isabelle turned to look out the window. It
had been a few years since she'd seen the aurorae borealis, but
never had they been as abundant and bright as they were this
morning. The Northern Lights glowed in green and yellow, their
colors cycled magnificently in rhythm with their elegant dance
across the pristine Arctic sky. In the distance the abstract light
sculpture atop Gene’s bank projected the same colors from the
surface of the frosty island. Fuji noticed that it caught
Isabelle's attention. "You, too, must look at everything before you
can understand the cause of your problems." Fuji had made an art
out of saying what he needed at the right moment without saying too
much. He had a hunch his words would inspire actions in his
disciple that would lead her to succeed.

Kato entered the room carrying a tray with
jams, crisp bread and tea. He noticed Isabelle still looking at the
seed bank across the snow. "It put our little island on the world
map. Apophis built it after they caught too much wind for the
gene-splicing of food. Promised all the world's nations they could
store their seed stock there for free. Pretty generous, if you ask
me." Kato's speech sounded very much like it was regurgitated from
the propaganda Apophis had been drumming over the media.

Isabelle replied, "Sounds a bit like letting
the wolf watch the sheep."

Stumped, Kato poured tea for everyone.
Isabelle added milk and sugar and stirred her cup. Seeing the
beauty of the clear skies with their colorful aurorae and the
frozen landscape made the young woman reminiscent of the years she
spent in Alaska, working for her father. "What an accomplishment,"
thought Isabelle. Lionel had built a television network that
brought news and information to the three major towns in that
state, long before anyone else and even longer before the Internet.
Just like her years in the jungle, life in Anchorage had kept her
in close contact with nature. Fuji's voice pulled Isabelle out of
her daydream.

"I know how much you like to drive. After we
eat, you're welcome to explore the island in my car."

Isabelle smiled in anticipation as she rose
her tea cup.

17 TASHA AND HER CAT

A snowy road stretched along the island's
coastline. Isabelle was behind the wheel of Fuji's 4x4. The car ran
on a water engine, a principle which utilized the energy of the
subatomic forces binding a water molecule together. The heated tank
was filled with a gallon of water, more than enough electricity to
explore the island. The chains on all four wheels dug into the snow
as Isabelle barreled along the road. She didn't drive slow in snowy
weather when there was room. The constant thrust from all four
wheels kept the vehicle stable and controlled.

Northern Lights had been more pronounced than
Isabelle had ever seen before. It was a year where sunspot activity
had reached its highest in modern recorded history. Isabelle had
come across that fact in her energy research and she knew sunspots
released strong solar wind. The particles contained in these
coronal ejections would eventually reach earth's magnetic field and
the upper atmosphere, where they caused the glow of the Aurorae
Borealis. Isabelle turned off her headlights. The entire landscape
was illuminated by the moon and the aurorae's bands of lights. The
black of space, freckled with countless stars, peeked through where
the glowing green and yellow ribbons made room.

The same colors of light were shining into
the sky from the unusual-looking light sculpture atop the seed
vault's entrance. It was a strange place for art that no one
besides the polar bears would see. The cost of energy generation on
the secluded isle was at a premium. Fuel for the power-generating
station had to be brought in by tanker during the summer months.
There was absolutely no motivation to illuminate the Arctic sky.
Isabelle felt slight suspicion, but had no idea, as of yet, what
devious design truly lurked behind the ice-desert art.

Isabelle arrived at the seed bank. She exited
the car and took in the beauty and serenity of her surroundings
when a rumble from behind the mountains rolled through the silence.
Isabelle turned towards the mountains that rose in the distance.
The searchlight of a helicopter cut across the sky like a saber.
Moments later, the noise from the triple-blade rotor had reached
her. The boisterous sound announced an armada of headlights rising
over the crest of the range. It wasn't hard to guess for Isabelle
that her pursuers had caught up with her. Something was wrong with
the seed bank and Isabelle was determined to find out its secret.
She grabbed the bag with her camera. It was time to collect some
evidence. If she only knew what to look for. Isabelle walked up to
the facility's only entrance. To the right of a blast-door was a
biometrics reader that resembled the devices she encountered at the
media complex in Los Angeles. Next to the Apophis sun-logo, it
prominently displayed a stylized leaf-glyph. Isabelle thought it
would be worth the try and placed her face in front of the reader.
The device's blinking beam of light scanned her right eye.

Descending from the crest of the mountain was
a pack of snow cats, one of which was towing a habitat trailer that
housed the surveillance room. The helicopter had its sliding door
open and a Trooper sat with his feet on the skids. He was aiming a
tranquilizer rifle at a family of sleeping polar bears below. The
bears awoke from the helicopter's noise just in time to be gunned
down by the Trooper’s darts. This was Tasha's way of blending in.
She saw nature as something that solely existed to serve man.
Disguising her Troopers as ruthless wildlife researchers was the
closest she would get to being in touch with nature.

The blue doors of the snow cats all bore the
Apophis Wildlife Federation
logo. Inside the first vehicle,
Tasha was leading her troops across the mountains. Projections on
the windshield of her cat kept Tasha abreast of Isabelle's
progress. The right half of her windshield showed a night-vision
image of Isabelle at the entrance of the seed bank. It was the feed
from the helicopter's gyro-mounted spy-camera. In front of Tasha
was a read-out from the biometrics reader Isabelle was facing. Her
image and name appeared next to a message that showed she was
attempting entry.