The Omega Project (16 page)

“How I know is not important.
Why
you are here is.”

My peripheral vision caught Andria’s expression as she stood to leave the galley—a “follow me, let’s talk” look.

“Sorry, Dharma, I have to run. When you find out why I’m here, be sure to let me know.”

Pocketing my dinner pouches, I left the dining hall, hustling to catch up with my former fiancée. “Hey, Andie. I just wanted to thank you for letting me share your bed.”

At that moment, Lara exited her suite, shooting me a nasty look as she walked by.

Like I said—shit storm.

“What’s with the squid lady?”

“She wanted me to share more than her bed.”

“And have you?”

I stopped her from walking. “You know me, Andie. Lust is a primordial urge. I’ve always aspired to something deeper.”

She smiled. “You’re such a dork.”

“Maybe. But I’d never cheat on someone I love.”

Her smile faded. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

I was about to reply when the Russian scientist approached. “You are assigned to me tomorrow morning. Lower level, nuclear reactor. Do not be late.”

I waited for him to disappear around the corridor. “Friendly guy. And you call me antisocial.”

To my surprise, Andria slid her fingers inside my palm. “I checked the duty roster, you’re free on day thirteen. Why don’t you join me aboard my mini-sub, I’ll show you how we intend to hunt sea critters on Europa.”

She kissed me quickly then walked away, the taut backseat of her jumpsuit the only critter I was interested in hunting.

14

Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas.

—J
OSEPH
S
TALIN

Day thirteen and somehow it seemed as if I had come full circle; Andria playing the huntress; me once more her faithful companion.

I held on for dear life as she banked the two-man sub away from the seafloor like a teenager with a learner’s permit, the turbulence chasing the eight-foot octopus from out of hiding.

“So? Are you going to marry him?”

“We broke up.” The sub lurched violently as Andria chased after the frightened cephalopod. Adjusting my own eyepiece, feeling my pulse pounding, I focused on the black sea, which now appeared pea-soup green.

“Don’t just sit there and crawl up into your brain—say something, damn it.”

“I thought he was what you wanted?”

“I was wrong.”

Andria aimed her weapon’s laser target over her quarry, her index finger squeezing the pistol-like trigger by her right leg with her index finger. An explosion of compressed air belched out of the end of the submersible’s mechanical arm, blooming into a neon yellow net that engulfed the octopus in the split second it takes a frog’s snapping tongue to feed upon a fly.

I watched the octopus struggling in the net. Andria startled me by entwining the fingers of her right hand in mine.

“Ike, is it too late for us?”

I laid my head back against the leather seat. “What about Europa?”

“Come with us.”

I smirked. “Six years aboard
Oceanus
with Commander Testosterone? Yeah, that should make for a real love fest. Imagine if I had slept with Lara. Would you be so quick to accept the Europa mission?”

“Probably not.”

I exhaled deeply. For days, I had played out this very scene in my head, the lovers’ chess game always ending in a stalemate. “I guess this is it then. Tomorrow night you guys get frozen, while I have a nice thirty-day chat with the computer.”

“What about Kevin? Your report?”

“I’m scheduled to meet with El Capitán later tonight—not that it matters. I’ve already decided to give your male shipmates a clean bill of health.”

Andria turned away, her lower lip quivering.

“Hey, you okay?”

“I screwed up.” Tears were free-falling down her cheeks. “I don’t want to leave you.”

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. “I don’t want you to go.”

“What if you told GOLEM that Kevin was the sociopath? Would you come with me to Europa then?”

“Jesus, Andie.”

She unzipped her jumpsuit six inches, then pressed my palm to her left breast. I leaned over to kiss her, only to be clenched by the cursed support harness. She snapped me free, and the two of us went at it, Andria engaging the autopilot with one hand, me with the other as I tore at the zipper of her jumpsuit, unleashing those tanned breasts …

“Andria, report! Is everything all right?”

She was on top of me, half naked, tearing at my jumpsuit. Panting, she reached overhead for the radio. “Everything’s fine, Commander.”

“You engaged the autopilot.”

“Just testing the system.”

I sucked on a nipple, my fingers reaching to touch her below.

“Your batteries are below eight percent. Return to
Oceanus
at once. That’s an order.”

She slammed the radio back on its cradle and climbed off me, the two of us panting heavily. “Come see me tonight … nine o’clock in my cabin. I’ll cook us a real dinner.”

“Nine o’clock. What’s on the menu … besides you?”

“My favorite.” She grinned, pointing out the cockpit glass to the bundle of tentacles. “Calamari.”

*   *   *

I showered, packed, then watched the original
Planet of the Apes
on Lara’s micro-disc player, killing two hours. At 8:47
P.M.
I left the stateroom and headed for the galley. The dining hall was empty, the lights dimmed to maintain a night-shift ambiance. Stepping up to the food selector, I scanned the beverage menu, selecting a wine cooler. “Four please.”

“Alcohol is a regulated beverage. You are permitted two servings per twenty-four hour period.”

“Two are for Andria Saxon.”

“Crewman Saxon must order her own alcoholic beverage.”

“Whatever … fine. Give me two wine coolers to go.”

“Today is October 7, 2028. Cryogenic stasis is scheduled for October 8, 2028, at twelve hundred hours. Alcohol is not to be consumed within thirty-six hours of cryogenic stasis. Request denied.”

“Why didn’t you just say that in the first place?” I turned to leave—coming face to face with Dharma Yuan. She was barefoot, her body cloaked in nothing but a
longgua
, a traditional Chinese surcoat once worn by a court concubine. The sheer, dark apparel was made of silk and gold-wrapped metal thread, ornamented with dragon medallions and a variety of Buddhist characters, including bats, which according to ABE, symbolized happiness. Over her heart, tossed in the waves of the sea was a light green disc representing the moon.

She looked quite ravishing, but my attention was elsewhere.

“Robert, we need to talk.”

“Can’t it wait until morning?”

“Why are you here?”

“I was hoping to get a six-pack to go, but the principal said no.”

“I meant, why are you here on this training mission?”

“I thought you were figuring that one out?”

“I have been trying … channeling in an attempt to understand. The messages I have been receiving are quite disturbing.”

With Andria waiting for me, the last thing I needed now was to engage Dharma in some wacky Buddhist philosophical diatribe. “If you must know, I’m here because the Pentagon was worried about the mental health one of the male members of Omega’s crew. Everyone checked out, so it’s all cool. False alarm.”

“I know you believe this to be the reason you are here, but there are forces in play among the higher realms of existence that are pulling the strings. Robert, every soul born into this physical realm is bound by karmic law to complete its own journey. Your presence onboard this vessel marks the beginning of a journey, the effects of which shall ripple beyond our days. The karma that draws you to this place … this moment in time … it is very powerful.”

“If you say so.”

“Do not mock me! I am sixteenth-generation Buddhist, disciplined by Mañjuśrī, transcendent deity of wisdom—one of the four great Bodhisattvas. Your chi disrupted my aura on the ice sheet. For anyone, especially a westerner, to break into my soul consciousness—it is simply not possible.”

She was a firecracker, I had to admit it. “Listen, Dharma, don’t feel bad, I’ve sort of jacked up my chi with a biological implant. ABE allows me to focus my brain waves in ways you’ve obviously never experienced before.”

“Karma cannot be affected by a neurological device; karma is a reflection of past lives.” She paused. “I can see by your reaction you do not believe in reincarnation.”

Oh, boy …
“Dharma, no disrespect, but I really have to go.”

She moved, blocking my escape. “As a clairvoyant, I am trained to tap into one’s past life experiences. I have accessed yours in an attempt to understand the nature of your karma and the journey that lies ahead. Would you like to hear about your past lives, Robert?”

The intensity of her gaze unnerved me, tossing ice water on my plans with Andria. “Just give me the highlights.”

“There aren’t many. Each of your past lives has ended brutally, each death associated with an act of evil perpetrated by someone acting on an impulse dictated by the darker side of human existence. Darkness is the absence of light, the light being the Creator’s life force—the energy shared by every soul. In the earliest life I was able to glimpse, I saw you as a Hebrew slave, beaten to death by your Egyptian taskmaster. In another incarnation you were born and raised in Spain, the son of an Orthodox rabbi. Through your eyes I witnessed the Spanish Inquisition herd you, your family, and tens of thousands of Jews onto wooden sailing ships and taken out to sea, only to be tossed overboard and drowned by your Spanish captain.”

“This is ridiculous. I don’t remember any of this.”

“Regression therapy would bring everything to the surface. Regrettably, there is no time.”

“Maybe after we surface. Right now, I really have to—”

“In your last life, I saw you held captive as a young boy in a Nazi concentration camp. I felt your wrath at the Creator as you witnessed your mother being sent to the ovens; I experienced your desperation and fear when you were delivered into the hands of Josef Mengele, a psychopath who performed genetic experiments on Jewish children.”

“Stop!” My heart was racing, my skin lathered in perspiration. “Why are you telling me about these nightmares?”

“Not nightmares, Robert, past lives. Each leaving an indelible imprint on your karma. In Buddhism, we call yours the spirit of the Hungry Ghost. Filled with rage from past lives, consumed by a terrible emptiness, you live your life trying to correct the past. The Hungry Ghost possesses a mouth the size of a needle’s eye and a stomach the size of a mountain. You are destiny’s castaway, Robert, a man who has witnessed the darkest days of existence. Now you live again, but only to change history.”

“Not history, Dharma. Hatred. Greed. Violence. All the darkness you imagined. My goal is to accelerate human evolution beyond the bounds of man’s ego. ABE is the prototype, the first step to reach what you’d call Nirvana. While you’re mining energy on Europa, I’ll be back on Earth, enlightening civilization.”

“You cannot achieve enlightenment while hanging on to anger.”

“ABE can. Think of it as the candle that illuminates the darkness. If it was created from my anger over the Great Die-Off … over the suffering and loss of my own family, then so be it.”

ABE zapped me with its chronometer—9:11
P.M.
“I’m late. Thanks for the insight. Maybe we’ll try that regression therapy after you defrost.”

I pushed past her, heading for the galley doors, escaping into the outer corridor. God, what the hell was that all about? Imagine being stuck for six years on Europa with that witch as your psychologist. Skip the dinner, get right into the make-up sex. Andria had a lot of making up to do.

I knocked on the door of Stateroom Two. “Andie? Sorry I’m late.”

The door slid open, revealing Omega’s six male crewmen. They were standing in a semicircle, waiting for me like a lynch mob.

Their ringleader stepped forward, Kevin Read’s Cheshire cat grin jump-starting ABE’s fight-or-flight command. “So, Eisenbraun, have you decided which one of us is the sociopath?”

“Are you campaigning for the position, Commander?”

Jason Sloan’s chuckle was silenced by the other men’s harsh glares.

“How much is Sebastian Koch paying you?” Dr. Bruemmer demanded to know.

“Paying me? No one’s paying me.”

“It has to be Koch,” spat Egor Vasiliev. “Everyone knows the bastard is the one behind the tar sands initiative in Canada.”

“He’s also been subsidizing the coal conversion campaign,” added Kyle Graulus.

My heavyset Israeli friend pointed a thick finger at my chest. “Who poisoned GOLEM’s algorithms with the false helium-3 results? It was you, admit it!”

“Yes, Yoni, it was me. Because I secretly want to terraform Europa with O-negative blood types.”

Kevin Read intercepted the charging fat man before he could flatten me. “Enough! We’re not here to debate conspiracy theories, Yoni. This is about the Europa mission. Each of us has made tremendous sacrifices in order to be here; I’ll be damned if I’m going to allow the opinions of some … jerk to break up my crew.”

“You mean ‘Jew.’ You were about to say, ‘the opinions of some
Jew,
’ weren’t you, Commander?”

Yoni turned to his captain, his anger ceding to disappointment.

“Don’t even go there, Yoni. He’s just being clever, trying to divide and conquer.”

“Release Professor Eisenbraun.”

Everyone looked up at the sensory orb peering at us from the corner of the ceiling.

“This is not your concern, GOLEM.”

“All matters pertaining to the success of the Omega Project are of concern to the GOLEM system. It was the GOLEM system that requested Professor Eisenbraun’s presence on the training mission.”

“For what purpose?” Bruemmer snapped.

“Efficiency.”

“Who’s he here to replace?” Jason Sloan asked.

“Those crewmen who are deemed liabilities at the time of the December launch. Mr. Limor’s additional weight gain increases the risk of heart failure during the mission. Ms. Moss has failed to master mini-sub operations. Ms. Saints has become emotionally attached to her biologicals. Dr. Bruemmer’s advancing osteoarthritis renders him a long-term liability. Professor Eisenbraun’s brain-stem implant allows him to be trained to take over any position on
Oceanus II
.”