Diamond Rain: Adventure Science Fiction Mossad Thriller (The Spy Stories and Tales of Intrigue Series Book 2) (21 page)

“Tha- ”

Kefira interrupted his
voice with a finger on his lips.  She moved up and kissed him deeply.  Her leg
slipped over him and she straddled him.  Her arm reached around behind her back
and she helped him.  He felt her again and watched from underneath as she
rocked gently with her eyes closed.  Her scent, her breasts settling down with
each movement, her love calls, all swallowed him again into a sensuous deeply
satisfying slow culmination.  When they recovered their composure, Kefira
spoke.

“You’re not gonna
believe this, but that’s the secret of duplicating the suits.”

Thomas shook his head.

“That what?”

“The connection, the
trust, but now I know it’s even more than that.”

“It was something
wonderful, special, the tenderness and closeness, Kefira.  The best ever.  You
know that I love you more than anything in the world,” said Thomas.

“You’re not listening,
Thomas.”

Thomas lowered his
head, taking his eyes from her.  He felt slightly hurt because his declaration
of love was from the heart, something he had never felt or uttered to any woman
with such sincerity before.  Kefira didn’t seem to understand that.  But she
was still speaking.

“I said: it’s the
secret to the suit.  Did you hear me?”

“I never said that to
anyone before,” replied Thomas.  “I meant it.  The love...”

“Thomas, don’t give me
those puppy dog eyes.  Of course I love you, but it’s the love, don’t you see? 
The love is everything.”

“What’re you going on
about?”

“Your friend altered
the diamond molecule when he singled out the storage function and used a bent
helix to build it up.”

“How’d you know that?”

“When we were using the
suit together, I was in a cloned part and I sensed it, but something else
occurred to me too.”

“What?”

“You communicated to me
that the suit resists duplication.”

“Ya, I can only create
partials.  When I try to recombine the molecules to make a complete suit for
someone else, it just fizzles.”  Thomas was slightly irritated that Kefira had
switched into a more practical mode but the discussion was still interesting to
him.  He mused that the suit must have affected him in more ways than he felt
inclined to admit.

Kefira opened the knob
on the fog container on her arm after she pressed her thumb onto the security
check.  Fog drifted up in an unusually wavering way.

“Love me, Thomas.  Feel
it with all your heart.”

“What?  I do.  I just
said so.”

“Don’t just think about
it,” she said.  “Feel it.  You know you feel it.  Allow those feelings to
flow.  Allow the love you feel for me to spread, to wash over us both.  You
have to show the molecule your feelings for me and it will split just like a
single cell.  As corny as it sounds, it needs a man and a woman to be whole, to
procreate.”

Thomas’ intellectual
side resisted Kefira’s ideas, but she helped him along by touching herself and
then passing her fingers under Thomas’ nose.  Scenes of making love filled his
head again and the suit responded immediately, forming into two separate
complete units.  The male suit gave off a ruby-colored brightness while Kefira’s
suit kept its diamond glimmer.  An umbilical cord of mixed aura connected
them.  Instantaneous, unbridled communication consumed the two of them.  For
the first time, Thomas truly understood.

“Like Yin and Yang. 
Your analytical fears about absolute power-”

“What fears?”

“You know, all that
stuff about controlling Sue Ann’s future and falling off a slippery slope
towards some kind of dictatorship because of your power,” Kefira said.  “Yes, I
know about that.  Nothing is hidden from me now.  Or from you.  But now things
will resolve themselves.”

“I feel you’re right,
but my head can’t get around it.”  Thomas wasn’t quite in the same place as
Kefira yet.

“Now making decisions
requires give and take; before, you had no checks and balances.  We are more
than we were, the sum is greater than the whole, you must see that now?”

Thomas nodded slowly. 
They had shared each other’s bodies;  now they shared a suit split perfectly
into male and female parts.  He started to understand the magnitude of their
power and the responsibilities they shared.  Kefira looked at him; she had no
need to speak but she did anyway.

“We have to agree on
all actions from now on.”

“We do.”

They willed garments to
form on them for the others to see.  They chose clothing which emulated the
shades the suits had taken on.  Together they walked out of Kefira’s room.

Yatsick noticed the
colors and he also saw the feeling between Kefira and Thomas.  It was
absolutely unmistakeable. 
I don’t stand a chance now,
he thought.  Jean
Pierre turned to look at them.

“How’d you manage
that?” he asked.

“Manage what?” both
Kefira and Thomas sounded puzzled, although they had a good idea what he meant.

“I know you’re choosing
to show us, but the suits’re different somehow, the color shows the change,”
said Jean Pierre.

Ekaterina looked up at
the exchange and remarked the same transformation.  She looked at Yochana. 
I
hope this means he hasn't  taken back total control of the suit,
Ekaterina
thought.

Yochana lifted her
shoulders and her eyebrows up, expressing the shared feelings of old friends.

“Don’t keep us in
suspense like this,” she said with a soft smile.

“It’s two suits now. 
We duplicated it completely,” Thomas explained.

Kefira turned to Jean
Pierre.

“Thanks are really due
to you, Jean Pierre.”

“I didn’t do anything
at that level.”

“Remember the
alteration you made on the molecule?”

“The helix?”

“The helix.  You got
it,” Kefira nodded in encouragement.

“But surely, that just
increased the storage possibilities?”

“It seems to have
altered the molecule too.  Made it like a haploid cell.”

“You mean like that
aspect of reproduction which needs a cell from the opposite gender to complete
it?” asked Jean Pierre.

“I felt it when Thomas
came to me in Chou’s prison.”

“I’m a scientist.  You
felt?”

“Understanding it
requires an intuitive leap not just a mental one,” said Kefira.

“The logical extension
of your gibberish is that you have two suits now that have some kind of
intuitive connection like a couple and that the suits were born of your union,
your love,” said Jean Pierre, skeptically.

“It’s the only way to
make two suits.  They have to be balanced by communication between a man and a
woman.”

Jean Pierre was
processing the conversation.  Suddenly he got it.

“Blow me away.  The
hunter’s instincts are softened by the nurturing side?  I mean, well, I suppose
it’s obvious now.”

Macaulay came into the
room with his phone in his hand.

“It’s show time.  Lau
just reached out.”

Kefira looked around.

“Anyone see Yatsick
today?”

Yatsick’s Treachery

Yatsick had escaped with all of his knowledge
just before Kefira made the connection about creating doubles with the
diamond-based suits.  He melted into obscurity amongst the stalled ‘walkers’ on
Armageddon Valley.  Chou ordered transport by helicopter for Yatsick to a
freighter in the Mediterranean.  From the freighter, he got a fast boat to
Cyprus.  A Gulfstream was waiting for him on the tarmac of Paphos International
Airport.  As an extra precaution, he used a false passport provided by the boat
captain on the Chinese fast boat.

Yatsick flew straight
to Harbin China near Lake Khanka where another of Chou’s helicopters picked him
up. 
I’ll teach them to ignore me,
he thought, as he boarded the
helicopter for the last leg of his journey to Chou’s underground headquarters. 
Strange, this war.  It’s a war almost without weapons, run from an
underground cavern by a handful of people, and yet the whole world falls.

Yatsick tapped the
device on his wrist.  It contained enough diamond molecules to make a suit, but
he still couldn’t get the molecules to work together.  By dint of mental effort
he could assign tasks to single molecules if he was standing inside the fog but
he couldn’t make the fog yield to his commands other than for small tasks.  He
was confident he would master it in time. 
Chou will listen to me.  He won’t
ignore me like they did.

When he got to the
headquarters, a passive-looking man in a suit gave him hand directions towards
the entrance to Chou’s underground fortress.  They took the elevator down to
level five together in silence. 
Not quite the reception I was expecting,
thought Yatsick.  The guard led Yatsick down an undecorated hallway and opened
a door that swooshed into the ceiling on its hydraulic motors.

Yatsick looked around
and didn’t like the look of what he saw.  This was a familiar environment.  His
experience of working for Mossad had introduced him to several different types
of interrogation room and he had no doubt that he was entering one now.  The
guard pushed him into the room and then a rush of utility fog covered Yatsick. 
It trapped him and he felt it checking all of his electronic equipment,
starting with his phone.  When the fog got to his wrist, it lit up and sent a
signal directly to Lau’s number two technician.  Thanks to Lau's stolen
molecule, the carbon-based fog detected the presence of diamond-based molecules
in a rudimentary way for the first time.  Lau’s number two signalled Chou
immediately.

Chou rubbed his hands
together savoring the tension in Lau as the two of them watched Sue Ann Lee
through the two way mirror in front of them.

“Now you will succeed
where you have failed in the past.  I need replenishments which last longer. 
Speed up the process or this one dies a slow death.”

“I’ve told you what
happens when we speed up the carbon molecule’s lifespan.  It makes it more
robust, but the molecules die quicker.  It’s an unfortunate arrangement which
we can’t get around.”

“You’re hiding
something from me.  I can sense it.”

“Why do you think this
journalist is important to me?”

“My fog’s telling me
your nerve endings are reacting to seeing her there.  Your emotions are too
strong.  Even you can’t hide emotions like that from my suit.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Let’s see.  Come with
me.”

A door opened beside the
two way mirror.  Sue Ann stood when she saw Lau.  Her eyes lit up and sincere
interest showed in her response to him.  Even in these unpleasant
circumstances, she found that she trusted him.  Lau’s suit communicated to her
using thought transference.  He could see the way his messages soothed her.

“Diamond Rain,” blurted
Lau.

The effect was
instant.  A bright flash of light passed between Sue Ann and Lau.  Chou’s
security molecules tried to intercept it, but the diamond molecular light
easily sliced through their carbon-based structure.  All at once Lau’s suit
expanded and covered Sue Ann with a protective shield.  Lau instantaneously
reviewed the information on the message molecule.

“You’ve gone too far
with these plans,” Lau said to Chou.  “I’m taking her from your clutches and
you can do nothing about it.  My shield can protect us from any of your feeble
attempts at piercing it,” he continued.

Lau turned his
outstretched hand in Sue Ann’s direction.  He gestured for her to come towards
him and he instructed the fog to lift them both and transport them back towards
his compound on the surface.

Chou fought with every
technique he possessed and some he didn’t know he was capable of exerting.  It
was to no avail.  Sue Ann and Lau moved at high speed and defeated every
obstacle presented by Chou’s fog.  Chou helplessly watched them leave. 
I
should have killed him a long time ago.  Soon.

As they disappeared,
Chou sent a message to Lau’s second in command.

“The molecules?” he
asked.

“We have them, and the fog
container.  What do you wish us to do with the Jew, Sir?”

“Confine him in case we
still need his expertise.  Do not harm him.  Let him believe his imprisonment
is only for security reasons and temporary; suggest that we will release him
soon.”

The elevators took Sue Ann and Lau from the
simple looking house on the surface to another underground entrance.  Lau’s
secure location was dug in shallower ground than Chou’s bunker but it was
easily defendable.  When they entered, Lau left a dense fog protecting the
entrance and he smiled as he took a surprised but willing woman into his arms.
Lau was confident about their safety and relaxed enough to feel at ease despite
the threat of attack from Chou. The improved suit all but made them
untouchable. His dream coming true perhaps clouded his judgment, but he
couldn't resist showing his planned surprise to Sue Ann. Giving in to his
excitement, he spoke up.

“Smell the miso,” he
said.

“
Sautéed
scallops?”

“Your favorite, isn’t
it?  My mother’s preparing them right now.  I have wanted to introduce you to
her for so long.”

Thomas’ manipulations
established the nature and development of Sue Ann’s relationship with Lau.  Lau
was so happy she responded to him with complete trust, he didn’t question the
source of that trust.  His suit indicated a warning sign, but Lau dismissed
it.  His human side could see no wrong with Sue Ann.

In turn, Sue Ann
blushed at his attention.
  Christ, my cheeks are hot,
she thought, but
she took control of the situation and reached for Lau.  They embraced.  After a
moment she pulled back from him and she followed her nose towards the pleasant aroma
coming from the kitchen area of his secure home.

“What was Chou up to
back there?” Sue Ann asked.

“He captured you to
control me.  He wanted to advance his plans for conquering the world.  But
enough of that talk for now.  I have to do something more mundane, a family
tradition.  There will be plenty of time to talk of Chou after.”

 Lau’s mother bowed
stiffly and hobbled on puffy ankles but her smile welcomed Sue Ann in a way she
had not experienced since she last visited her grandparents.  Something inside
her told her that this feeling was genuine and good. She reached for Lau’s hand
and smiled at him as they squatted down to the low table.  Then Sue Ann jumped
up when she realized that Lau’s mother was going to serve them.  Lau held her
hand and nodded.  He whispered in English so his mother would not understand.

“She’ll be insulted if
you don’t let her serve us.  She is from a small village.  I told her you come
from America.  Just sit, please.”

The surreal aspect of
sitting and eating a delicious Chinese meal underground in Lau’s secure
location was not lost on Sue Ann, but she hadn’t felt this good for a long
time.  Her Chinese kept Lau’s mother laughing and the meal went well.  Lau’s
mother silently left the room to clean up and leave the young people to
themselves.  Her obvious contentment seeing her son happy meant as much to her
as being brought to this compound from the wilderness where Chou had kept her
for years.

****

In his own quarters, Chou was stewing in his
temporary powerlessness in the face of Lau’s superior command of the
nanosuits.  He didn’t think the lack of power would last long; he had the key
to world domination in his hands.  A container that looked like a watch lay on
the table in front of him.  Through the two way mirror he watched the man who had
just delivered him a diamond-based nanosuit.

“Open it,” said Chou to
Lau’s second in command.

“It requires a thumb
print, Sir.”

“Bring me his thumb,”
said Chou.  After a second or two he thought better of it and he raised his
hand, halting the young man’s move towards the door.

“Wait.  We will go to
him and get him to open it.”

They walked out under a
door which snapped into the ceiling and looked at Yatsick.

“Open it, please,” said
Chou pleasantly.

Yatsick recognized the
man in front of him.  Anxious to give the impression that he was going to
cooperate, he placed his thumb on the small pad on the watch.  The fog filled
the space between the men and Yatsick walked into it.  The fog formed loosely
around Yatsick and he looked at Chou.  A derisive smirk crossed Chou’s face. 
Chou’s suit launched an attack that slid a band of carbon molecules around
Yatsick’s neck.  The invisible band tightened around Yatsick’s neck, choking him.

“This is no superior
weapon.  You take me for a fool?” asked Chou as Yatsick fell to his knees.

Lau’s second in command
intervened.

“Sir, the molecules are
authentic.  It is just that this fool does not completely control them.  I
suggest, Sir, we may need him to help us learn how to perfect our control of
this new technology.”

Chou let Yatsick’s neck
go and the young scientist rubbed his neck and took gulping breaths of fresh
air before he tried to stand.

“Let me explain,” he
said unsteadily.

Chou cut him off with a
swipe of the air between them.

“We will go to the
laboratory.  You will perfect your knowledge and abilities in forty-eight hours
and report back to me. Come.”

The three men left the
cell and took the elevator to the testing section on level three.  Chou led
Yatsick to a testing facility complete with carbon-suited workers.  They gave
him a suit and communicated mentally.  Yatsick plunged into the work, starting
without even turning to look at Chou.

Chou took Lau’s second
in command to the second level – his military operations headquarters.

“You have just assumed
Lau’s command. What is your name Colonel?”

“Wu, Sir. I will serve
to the death.”

“Colonel Wu, you told
me you know something about Lau’s replenishments.  Spit it out.”

“Sir, Lau is too
careful.  He frets about hurting the men in the suits.”

“How would you change
that?”

“Accelerate the size of
the replenishments, Sir.”

“What about the
toxicity caused by faster consumption of the carbon molecules?”

“There’s no scientific
basis for Lau’s fears.  It could take years for the suits to become toxic. 
Once we take over the world’s assets, the death of some of our soldiers in
their suits is unimportant.”  He grinned.  “Soldiers die in wars, Sir.  It’s a
fact of life."

“You are my kind of man
Wu.  Keep up the good work.  When can we renew our attacks?”

“I took the liberty,
Sir, of ordering supercharged replenishments.  Our drones in America and Europe
are in the sewer systems of every city where our ‘walkers’ need seeding.  Since
the authorities in the west started tracking and knocking out our aerial drones
I have perfected the distribution process so that it rises in mist from the
ground.  The aerial fleet is still in the air, but they are a ploy meant to distract.”

“Launch them, Colonel Wu.”

“War needs only your
finger to press the enter button here after we both turn these safety keys.”

In cities all over Europe and America a misty
fog rose from the sewer systems while the authorities busied themselves with
chasing down air launched drones.  Chou’s ‘walkers’ came to life and headed to
the financial districts in every city.  They seized control of the monetary
system and started the process of transferring all of the wealth of the world’s
financial districts to China.  Chou had won.

Chou watched the plasma
screens all around the room.  The stock and bond exchanges of the world closed
one after another.  Traders were jumping from windows in the downtown centers
of every major city in the world.  Not since Black Monday in 1929 had the world
seen such a fast moving contagion.  Within days unemployment in the west would
create havoc.