Journey Through the Mirrors (50 page)

“Logan!” She was whispering. Logan paused and looked back, maneuvering so that he could see her through the jumble of heat tubes. “Someone is coming down here. Hold still, and don’t make a sound.”

Logan watched as Valerie stood. The only thing he could see now was her legs as she made her way to the other side of the platform. Logan heard a clanking as someone descended the spiral staircase, every step echoing. The core continued to sway slightly back and forth.

“Hello, Agent Perrot, Mr. Ford,” said a voice Logan did not recognize. “I know the two of you are down here. Mr. Hitchlords doesn’t want to see either of you die on this island. He insisted that I fetch the two of you to safety.”

Logan watched as a pair of feet stepped onto the platform from the stairs.

“Don’t you want to see your children again, Mr. Ford? I have come to take you to them.”

Valerie popped her head down. Her index finger was pressed to her lips, indicating that Logan should remain still. He watched as Valerie walked away from the core and took a position near a large metal cabinet.

“There you are, Mr. Ford,” the voice said.

Logan now saw Rashidi squatting down and peering under the core. He was holding Valerie’s gun. “Now, how about you come out of there by your own free will? No? Well, we can do it without the free will, too, if you’d like.”

Logan remained silent, waiting, watching the gun take aim. Suddenly, there was a shot, and he flinched but felt no injury. Another followed and echoed in the core. Logan heard the bullets ricochet.

“I am not in the mood to play around,” Rashidi said. “I was hoping we could do this the easy way.”

Logan watched as Rashidi walked a few steps away. He heard the squeak of a door being opened, followed by a loud humming, as the translucent heating columns surrounding him began to glow. The NovaCon device started rumbling again, and the swaying of the core increased. Rashidi squatted back down. “I’ve bypassed the controls and opened the conduits. I would suggest that you and Ms. Perrot come out right now, or those tubes will burn you alive.” Rashidi angled for a better look. “Where is she, by the way?”

“Right here!” Logan heard Valerie say, as she pressed her new gun to Rashidi’s head. “I’d like my gun back, please,” she said, as she took it from Rashidi’s hand. But there was a sudden swaying of the core, and Valerie was knocked off balance, giving Rashidi the advantage. Logan watched as the two of them wrestled, rolling back and forth on the platform. “Logan!” Valerie gasped. “Drop the nanites! Hurry!”

Logan took hold of the silver handle on the hatch and pulled. He turned away as an intense wave of heat burst out of the hatch. He pulled the vial and the small activation device from his pocket. He pressed the button on the device, as the doctors had instructed. Logan could see the nanites beginning to move in the vial; they’d been activated. He wasted no time, dropped the nanites into the hatch, and closed the door. Two shots rang out. Logan looked back frantically and saw Valerie on the ground, with Rashidi on top of her.

“Valerie!” Logan yelled. A series of sonic booms shook the core violently.

58

On the floor of an acclaimed artist’s studio lie the tattered canvases of failed attempts.

—THE CHRONICLES OF SATRAYA

AMESBURY, U.K., 4:20 P.M. LOCAL TIME, MARCH 26, 2070

Britney watched from afar as Anita continued to strike the tuning fork and place it next to Sumsari’s resonator. The sound it generated seemed to quell the violent lightning strikes and the quaking of the ground. All of the Druids had escaped the circle of stones now, but a few remained just outside it, chanting and kneeling on the ground next to the burned, dead bodies of their friends. Sirens could be heard in the distance.

Suddenly, more electrical arcs filled the sky, and the rumbling grew louder.

“Oh, no!” Britney cried, as she started to run toward the center of Stonehenge and Anita. One of the megalithic stones close to where Anita was kneeling cracked down the center. Half of the massive stone teetered. Anita scurried out of the way as it toppled, but the resonator slipped from her hand. The Rokmar harmonic instantly stopped. Another series of lightning bolts rent the sky. People started screaming again. Britney quickened her pace, determined to help her friend. She was relieved when she saw Anita stand up. “Anita, get out of there!” she
shouted. But Anita remained by the toppled stone, walking around it, looking at the ground. “Leave the resonator!” Britney screamed. “Just get out of there!”

A series of sonic booms erupted, throwing Britney down. She looked up in time to see a massive electrical arc striking the center of Stonehenge and her best friend illuminated in a brilliant flash of light.

59

Bending an accepted truth is the only way to evolve.

—THE CHRONICLES OF SATRAYA

NOVACON ISLAND, 3:28 P.M. LOCAL TIME, MARCH 26, 2070

“Two minutes until the Black Star strike!” Chetan yelled. The rumbling continued as Logan and Valerie reentered the control center. “What happened down there?” he asked them frantically.

“Why did you . . .” Dr. Josef said.

“Reopen the conduit?” Dr. Rosa asked.

“We didn’t,” replied Valerie, whose right elbow was bleeding.

“Rashidi showed up,” Logan said, setting his backpack down and marching over to the doctors. “
He
opened the core.”

“We are trying . . .” Dr. Josef said.

“To close the core,” Dr. Rosa finished.

“You guys have to get that device under control!” Sylvia yelled from the HoloPad. “That standing wave from the south of England is gone. The energy readings are off the charts again.”

“That rogue signal stopped almost at the same moment the conduits were opened and the charged ions were exposed to the lava,” Chetan said.

“Can you close and isolate the nuclear core from here?”

The doctors began to manipulate the controls on a nearby controls panel. “The core . . .” Dr. Josef said.

“Is now closed,” Dr. Rosa said.

“Are the nanites working?” Valerie asked.

“Yes,” the doctors said in unison. A projection of the lava flowing below the core was displayed. Logan and Valerie saw the familiar ash-like substance begin to appear.

“The nanites are . . .”

“Functioning.”

The sparkling increased as the nanites multiplied. Dark spots appeared on the lava’s surface. An indicator displayed that the temperature of the core was falling.

“I think it’s working,” Valerie said. “Do you detect any changes?”

“Yes,” Sylvia replied. “It looks like the energy spikes are coming down. I am starting to get a steady reading on the Schumann resonance once again.”

“The core . . .” Dr. Josef said.

“Is cooling,” Dr. Rosa said.

On the projection, Logan and Valerie could see a dark crust forming on the surface of the lava. There were thin red veins in it, but soon they disappeared.

“The device . . .” Dr. Josef said.

“Is stable,” Dr. Rosa added.

Valerie looked at the projection of Sylvia. “Tell Director Sully to call off Black Star right now!”

“Message already sent,” Sylvia said. “The satellites have backed down.”

“The energy collector is at two hundred thousand megawatts!” Chetan exclaimed.

“Madu did it,” Logan said.

“The harmonic . . .” Dr. Josef said.

“Is correct,” Dr. Rosa added.

They both turned to Logan, saying in unison, “You must turn off the nanites. Otherwise, a vacuum will form.”

“The pyramid, along with everyone in it . . .”

“Will be sucked into the earth.”

“There’s already a high vacuum starting to form,” Chetan said, looking at a display. “Same kind as we saw back at the lab.”

Logan pulled the device from his pocket and pressed the button, deactivating the signal.

60

A king will never provide a solution.

In order to keep his power, he will only tell the people what is wrong and who is to blame.

Listen instead to the one who says that you are the only solution you will ever need.

—THE CHRONICLES OF SATRAYA

THE AZORES, 5:08 P.M. LOCAL TIME, MARCH 26, 2070

Logan, Valerie, and Chetan emerged from the lava tunnel with the two doctors. They made their way through the dilapidated visitors center and walked out the main door. Rigel and some of his men were waiting there.

“We thought we’d lost you along with the whole island,” Rigel said. “Even underwater,
Nemo
almost didn’t make it. Massive destruction has been reported all around the world. Scores of people were struck down in the global lightning storms. I would imagine that many government officials are looking for answers. Including your own,” he added, glancing at Valerie.

“We’ll deal with that when we get back to Washington,” she said.

Logan was still anxious, though. He looked at the employees of NovaCon who had made it out of the pyramid, Mr. Pastor among them.

“Don’t worry,” Valerie reassured him. “Simon won’t hurt the kids as long as he doesn’t have the books. We’ll get them back.”

Rigel looked at the doctors, who were holding their hands in front
of their faces, trying to shield themselves from the bright sunlight. “Who are they?” he asked.

“They built the device,” Valerie said. “She’s Dr. Rosa, and he’s Dr. Josef.”

Rigel looked at the implants at the backs of the doctors’ necks. “The two of you have a great deal to answer for. Many people have died because of what you constructed.”

“We only did . . .” Dr. Josef said.

“What we were told,” Dr. Rosa said.

“One day, you might learn that your souls are in your own keeping,” Logan said, perturbed by their response.

The doctors looked at each other and then back at Logan.

“We don’t believe . . .” Dr. Josef said.

“In souls,” Dr. Rosa finished.

Valerie shook her head. Clearly, the doctors’ sense of morality was not on par with their intelligence. She turned back to Rigel. “Did you see anyone leave the island? Simon, Catherine, and Nadine fled just as everything started to shake.”

“No,” Rigel said. “But we were submerged until a half hour ago. We couldn’t risk resurfacing during the earthquakes.” He looked over at Mount Pico and the NovaCon pyramid at its base. “What’s the plan for the energy device? I’d be more than happy to take it off your hands,” he added with a smile.

“Yes, yes!” the doctors said in unison.

“We are certain . . .” Dr. Josef said.

“We could make it work,” Dr. Rosa said.

“Your friend, Madu . . .”

“Was of great help.”

“When we left the device, it was generating more than two hundred thousand megawatts,” Chetan said. “Tesla’s theory of free energy is now a reality.”

“If we could actually fine-tune the device,” Rigel said, “we could supply energy to the world for a thousand years.”

“Even . . .” Dr. Josef said.

“Longer,” Dr. Rosa added.

“But who would ensure that it is accessible to all of humanity?” Logan asked. “Will any of you be alive in a thousand years? No. Now I understand why the pyramids fell into ruin and why their secrets were guarded so closely. Are you two worthy of such a device?” Logan said to the doctors. “What about you, Rigel? Would you have the courage to keep it free, despite your investors’ desire to control it exclusively? Could you be the one man whom absolute power does not absolutely corrupt? No, this pyramid needs to go the way of all the other pyramids in history.” Logan swung his backpack off his shoulder and pulled out the small activation device.

“All our work . . .” Dr. Josef said.

“Will be lost,” Dr. Rosa added.

“Then let it be lost,” Logan said, flipping the switch and turning the nanites back on.

Within moments, a rumbling sound filled the air, and boulders began to roll down the quaking volcano. The doctors looked on helplessly as the nanites acted on the NovaCon energy device. Smoke rose around the pyramid, its shiny façades bending and contorting. The rumbling grew louder, until suddenly, a column of lava shot high into the air, and molten rock and rock fragments crashed down in all directions. Everyone but Logan wondered if he had done the right thing.

Valerie received a message on her PCD. She turned to Logan. “A WCF plane with my father and Madu is en route to Lisbon,” she said. “It will be ready to take us anywhere we want to go.”

Logan’s PCD rang, too. But his face darkened when he saw that he’d received a message from Simon.

So, do your children still have a father?

Logan quickly typed the answer:
Yes
.

A few moments later, another message arrived.

Excellent. I will relay that to your children. Here in Washington, D.C.

61

Truth is dependent on the one possessing it.

—THE CHRONICLES OF SATRAYA

OVER THE ATLANTIC OCEAN, 6:43 P.M. LOCAL TIME, MARCH 26, 2070

“It was Nadine,” Logan said. “She sold your plans to Catherine Bribergeld and her deceased partner, Dario Magnor.”

Madu didn’t say anything. He just looked shocked. Mr. Perrot, who was beside him, put his hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“Looks like she also told Simon where Logan’s children were staying in Washington,” Valerie added. “She’s put everyone in the frying pan.”

They were seated around a table on a WCF transport plane heading back to Washington, where, according to Simon’s last message to Logan, the exchange of Logan’s children for his set of the
Chronicles
would take place. Simon hadn’t provided any further instructions and had refused to discuss specific arrangements. It didn’t matter; Logan would do anything Simon said, whenever Simon said in order to protect his children.

The WCF transport plane, which had originated at an air base in Qatar, had picked up Mr. Perrot, Madu, and Sumsari in Cairo and landed five hours later in Lisbon, where Logan, Valerie, and Chetan had boarded it after Rigel had transported them there. Sumsari had been
sedated for his journey back to the Calhoun Medical Center and was resting in a row of seats near the rear of the plane. Chetan was in the adjacent row, comparing technical notes with Sylvia and Darvis back at the Cube. An announcement over the intercom informed them that the plane would be landing in Washington in two hours.