Connexion : The Atlantis Project, Book.1 (30 page)

“Giuseppe is quite a private person,” added
Mario. “It’s sometimes difficult – even for us – to know what he’s
thinking. The whole team trusts him. Behind his amiable façade lies
a real driver who can sometimes be very strict when the interests
of the program he is pursuing are at risk. He knows how to unite
his men around a project that they only have a general
understanding of. Even those of us who know him and have worked
with him for many years don’t know anything of his deeper motives
or of the orders he receives from his superiors. All the same, I
think that he’s an extremely compassionate man. Personally, I’m
convinced that he behaves the same way with his superiors as he
does with us. To him, we are all integral parts in a system of
which he is the hub. Each one of us only knows what Giuseppe deems
necessary for us to be able to fulfill our part of the collective
work. That way, nobody but him really knows where we are going, but
without him we would certainly not have come this far.”

“But Mario, when I was in the connection
Jacques told me about your doubts concerning Giuseppe’s true
objectives. You seemed to think that he and Francisco would not
hesitate to sideline my safety and physical wellbeing to serve
their interests.”

“That’s true, Charlie. He would sacrifice
you, just as he would sacrifice any one of us if he thought he was
making the right decision to guarantee the program’s success.”

“But doesn’t that shock you, Mario? How can
you accept the idea of being a mere pawn in a game of chess that
only he can anticipate and comprehend?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s better that way. I
don’t find his mentality surprising at all. All scientists make
research their top priority. This profession demands a great deal
of abnegation. How many passionate scientists find they are
unsuited to social life and forego material comfort and
relationships to carry out their work? Many of them have willingly
perished in the pursuit of their dream. Just think of the first
discoveries of radioactivity. Some did not realize the danger they
were exposing themselves to, but then many of them accepted the
risk. They died prematurely because they prioritized the
advancement of their work over and above their own safety. Add to
that the fact that we are on a military base here, and you will see
Charlie, that there is nothing astonishing about the fact that we
all (or nearly) agree to submit to his authority.”

“What happens to those who don’t agree?”
asked Jacques.

“I don’t remember that ever happening. At
least, those who tended to disagree all ended up seeing reason.
Group and hierarchical pressure is much too strong and the
candidates for work here are not selected by chance.”

“You know I don’t like it when you talk that
way, Mario!” Clementine suddenly interjected. “Nobody can blindly
follow a cause, no matter how noble. How can you agree to keep
working in the dark? Charlie’s right. No one can put up with being
moved around like a pawn on a checkerboard indefinitely; not
someone like you, anyway! Not someone who enjoys life’s pleasures
and allow himself certain liberties despite the regulations. I
can’t believe you sincerely mean what you just said, Mario!”

Mario was quiet, keeping his eyes on the road
in front of him. Clementine’s attitude had greatly surprised
Charlie. He had not expected such a violent reaction. He
immediately began to wonder what could be behind such an outburst,
from a woman who was ordinarily so discreet. Mario finally glanced
at her and then responded in a tone he hoped was reassuring.

“Don’t worry. I’m not a mere robot, any more
than my colleagues are. We all have something to contribute and
more often than not, Giuseppe takes our comments and observations
into account. In that sense, we are not exactly what you would call
pawns. Each of us maintains a certain measure of free-will, but we
are all working toward a common goal; a goal that is much greater
than us, just as it is greater than Giuseppe. The same goes for the
government and the top officials who define the general extent of
our mandate. I simply want you to realize that you three are now
part of a program with firmly fixed rules. In that sense, you are
subject to discipline you are not used to and you probably just
need to accept that some things will not be revealed to you
immediately.”

Charlie was just about to react, but the
vehicle was already slowing down to pull up in the driveway in
front of Pavilion 28.

“Here we are!” said Mario enthusiastically.
“You must be pleased to be back at our pavilion, even if you ended
up spending scarcely more than a few days here since your
arrival.”

“Weren’t you supposed to take us back to the
recovery room?” asked Jacques in surprise.

But it was Clementine who answered with
obvious pleasure.

“Well, yes, but here we are! I wanted it to
be a surprise. I insisted that Giuseppe allow you to join us a
little earlier than planned. He agreed quite quickly but you’ll
have to be as discreet as possible about what you learned in the
connection. Alvaro is looking forward to seeing you. I thought you
would be anxious to have some sort of social life again. Am I
right?”

“Yes, you’re right. Nothing would make us
happier than going home and curiously, I think that we were quite
comfortable in this pavilion, weren’t we Jacques? You’ll be able to
smoke a nice cigar and I don’t think I’ll have any trouble joining
you!”

“As long as someone agrees to authorize this
slight deviation from the rules! A friend, for example, a
connoisseur who might like to share in this forbidden pleasure with
us…” Jacques said, looking at Mario, who had just silenced the
purring motor.

He turned around, not seeking to hide his
pleasure at being reunited with the twins again.

“With a little glass of Cognac, I suppose.
I’ll see what I can do, my friends! I can’t pass up an opportunity
to reveal to my dear Clementine that behind my apparent submission
to authority there is a rebellious soul hiding. He then burst into
laughter which soon infected them all, except at first for
Clementine, who seemed annoyed that her concerns were being taken a
little too lightly for her liking. But the moment was much too
pleasant for her not to join in too, with all the spirit required
by the circumstances.

While Mario led the way, Charlie put his arm
around Clementine’s shoulders and pulled her against him briefly,
under Jacques’ indulgent eye, who did not object in the slightest.
The embrace seemed to communicate not only all the gratitude they
had toward the one who had accompanied and watched over them since
the beginning; but also his approval of the relationship she had
developed with Mario during their absence.

33 DECIPHERING

Giuseppe had just gone out of the room,
leaving Charlie and Jacques alone with the huge graphic tablet.

“
Do you think you can make that thing
work? I can’t believe it’s possible; even the fact that you managed
to turn it on so easily seems totally unreal to me.”

“I know, Jacques. It must be incredible to
see your poor brother manipulating such advanced technology and
believe me, if I were you I think my reaction would be the same,
but I assure you, this is really happening. These signs and symbols
are like an open book to me now. I can read them as easily as a
simple text written in our own language.”

“
How did you learn to do that?”

“You know, I think you can talk to me in the
usual way. I’ve noticed that for a while now you haven’t bothered
to use your voice when you communicate with me.”

“
That’s possible. Maybe I should make more
of an effort, but this is so much easier. And it also means no one
can listen in on our conversations.”

“Except that I have to answer you, even if I
do usually whisper. But you don’t always have crucial, top-secret
things to tell me. If that were the case I would understand your
reasons for using telepathy.”

“
I guess I’m used to it, that’s
all.”

“You see! It seems normal to you now, and yet
it’s absolutely inexplicable, just as inexplicable as me
deciphering this gibberish, dug up from the depths of time.”

“Even so, I find it hard to believe that you
have changed so much in such a short space of time. It makes me
feel dizzy at times. Sometimes I’d just like things to be back the
way they were before, when everything was simple and predictable.
I’m starting to miss your moralistic, narrow-minded attitude, you
know. Don’t you feel the same way?”

“Did you spend a lot of time on your own
while I was connected?”

“Not as much as all that. Mario and
Clementine visited me very regularly, but sometimes the sleepless
nights spent worrying about you, alone on that electronic couch
seemed interminable. At any moment I could be jerked awake by the
threat of danger or imminent death. I had plenty of time to mull
things over and several times I thought I was going to spend the
rest of my life with a vegetable or worse for a brother. You don’t
know how unbearable that waiting was for me. You seemed to be
having amazing adventures in dreamland, oblivious to danger.”

“I’m sorry, Jacques. I didn’t realize it had
been so hard for you, even if I suspected it to some extent. I was
so taken up with ensuring my own survival in what seemed at first
to be a world as exciting as it was unfathomable. To answer your
question, I often find myself thinking about our old life and I
would love as much as you to be able to take a leap back in time,
but what I went through in the connection has changed my life and I
know that we’re never going to relive that blessed time when
everything seemed so simple compared to what we’re experiencing
now. It was simple, but maybe a little too dull and monotonous,
wouldn’t you say? And then there was this handicap that was
literally ruining our lives, let’s not forget it.”

“Why? Because you think that’s different
now?”

“Yes, Jacques! Maybe you haven’t noticed but
here everything is much easier. People listen to us; they are
considerate; our opinion matters… It’s everything you dreamed of,
Jacques: respect and honor – not merely compassion or pity. And
we’re not spending our days on the couch bickering like kids and
wondering how to fill up the day, hoping in vain that some kind
soul will want to talk to us or give us a little time so we don’t
molder away indefinitely in that tiny apartment where our treatment
and perpetual state of helplessness made it a constant
shambles.”

“You’re very bitter all of a sudden, brother!
I’ve rarely seen you so resentful. Maybe you think everything’s
different now that you’re on a very important mission? As soon as
they’ve gotten out of us what they want to know, in the best case
scenario they’ll send us home after a good brain-washing; unless
they have nothing to fear from a couple of poor, handicapped fools
who no one would ever believe.”

“Okay! I think we have something better to do
now than bicker so childishly when, as you say, Giuseppe has just
given me a very important mission, which I intend to complete
successfully. Anyway, I’ve had enough of your constant distrust and
pessimism. We’ll never get anywhere with that attitude!”

“Ah, at last – the old you is back again! You
see; I like it when we bicker. And it’s been ages since you
lectured me. I see you haven’t lost your touch!”

Charlie let out a deep sigh, accompanied by a
knowing smile, without taking his eyes off the graphic tablet.
Jacques would keep quiet now, letting his brother put his new-found
translation skills to work.

Rows of symbols scrolled past at a speed
which did not even allow Jacques to focus for more than a few
seconds. Occasionally, stunningly realistic holographic images
would appear. Anyone could have seen that they were
three-dimensional images of the different parts of the base and its
buildings. After a long while Charlie slowed his reading speed and
spent a long time looking at a hologram that seemed to be much more
significant than all the preceding ones.

“What’s that, Charlie?”

“It’s a holographic image of Sector 24.”

“Is it significant?”

“Yes, Jacques. That’s where what I’m looking
for is.”

“And what exactly are you looking for?”

“Victor’s wife,” he answered in a barely
audible voice.

“
Did he ask you to find her?”

“Excuse me, but I’d rather talk about it
somewhere else, you understand?”

“
Okay! Do you think she could be in Sector
24?”

“Yes, I’m almost positive.”

He tapped on the edge of the screen again and
the hologram suddenly filled the whole room. The twins were like
prisoners inside the huge, shiny gray dome that invaded the whole
space.

“Are we inside it?” asked Jacques, amazed by
such spectacular display of technology.

“Not really. It’s just a hologram of its
external structure. It doesn’t tell us anything about what’s
inside. At least, we can’t see it as it really is.”

“What makes it different to the other domes?
I thought there were thousands of them on this base.”

“That’s where she is.”

“
How can you be so sure?”

“That’s where he left her before he went
away; in Sector 24. We have to persuade Giuseppe to take us
there.”

“
How do you plan on doing that?”

“As simply as possible; I’m going to tell him
we need to go to Sector 24.”

“
Without any further explanation?”

“He won’t ask for one, I’m sure. He and I
both know that it’s in our best interest to cooperate, and if you
remember what Mario told us in the car, it’s not necessary to know
everything in order to work together, even when your name is
Giuseppe. He might be our hierarchical superior, but he’s probably
experienced enough to know that he won’t get anywhere without true
teamwork.”