understand the basic underlying
principles of your machine. With their help, you’ll be able to have the project
up and running in a matter of weeks at most. We have already rebuilt as much of
the original as we could. All you have to do is fill in the gaps.’
‘Let me think about it.’
‘Sure. Take your time. In the interim, I
will have Esteban escort you back to your cell. There will be ample opportunity
for the thinking that you need back there. Then should you make the right
decision, I may think about allowing you to move to more comfortable quarters.’
He gestured to the agent with a wave of his right hand. ‘Take her away.’
The CIA liaison was not as rough with her
as the military guards had been. Once they were out of the office, he started
asking her questions of his own.
‘Is that true what you said in there about
Jimmy – is he really a ticking bomb?’
‘That’s not what I said and to be honest,
I have no idea exactly how much danger he does pose. The radiation has a
devastating effect on ninety nine per cent of the humans it infects. Jimmy and
my grandfather are the only exceptions I’ve come across, but they are at
opposite ends of the scale. I doubt he could ever exercise the level of control
that Pops did. Of course, that doesn’t mean he isn’t dangerous. The equation I
gave you holds up. If we had the right technology or capabilities, absolutely
anything could be turned into an atomic bomb.’
‘In that case, I will make sure Jimmy is
never placed in a situation that could cause him to...explode.’
Emmy chuckled, though not with any real
glee. For some reason, she was now finding Esteban quite disarming. Judging him
by his reactions to what the colonel had to say during their meeting, he
appeared to be a moral man. She even wondered if he too was being forced to act
under coercion.
‘I’m sure we’ll be fine,’ she told him.
‘Just don’t go letting your boss know that.’
‘Your secret is safe with me.’
‘Somehow, I don’t think anything is safe
in this place.’
They did not say anything more for the
rest of the short journey to Emmy’s cell. They had already said enough for now.
In the delicate game of establishing whether either could trust the other, they
had both scored equal points.
Chapter 13
The images supplied by satellite
surveillance were inconclusive. They did, however, provide the strongest lead
yet on the missing scientist. If the Americans had not yet found her, they were
getting extremely close.
The team appeared to be black-ops. Its
apparent leader was a onetime Special Forces operative believed to have gone
rogue. He had sacrificed his previous career in order to save the life of a
headstrong young woman not too dissimilar from the current mark. If they were
looking for Emmy Rayne then the presence of Esteban Cruz confirmed that their
intentions were to take her alive. This, in turn, implied two things.
Firstly, they had not yet developed
astral capability.
Secondly, they still had every intention
of achieving that goal.
Charles Nguyen was the man tasked with
making sure they would not be successful. Since his escape from Jackson’s Hill
three years earlier, he had been afforded seemingly limitless resources in
order to rebuild and refine the technology that had taken first the sanity and
then the life of his former mentor; Professor Jackson Fox. Thus far the project
had been an overwhelming success.
Once astral capability had been achieved,
the first obstacle to overcome was the radiation problem. By installing lead
shielding around the projection chambers, which could be flushed after each
journey, they were able to filter and channel the radiation into containment
tanks buried deep underground.
With the radiation problem solved,
Charlie had then been able to take the research to levels that neither he nor
Emmy could have dreamed of when they had started out. Of course, this was
balanced by a redefining of his objectives.
principles of your machine. With their help, you’ll be able to have the project
up and running in a matter of weeks at most. We have already rebuilt as much of
the original as we could. All you have to do is fill in the gaps.’
‘Let me think about it.’
‘Sure. Take your time. In the interim, I
will have Esteban escort you back to your cell. There will be ample opportunity
for the thinking that you need back there. Then should you make the right
decision, I may think about allowing you to move to more comfortable quarters.’
He gestured to the agent with a wave of his right hand. ‘Take her away.’
The CIA liaison was not as rough with her
as the military guards had been. Once they were out of the office, he started
asking her questions of his own.
‘Is that true what you said in there about
Jimmy – is he really a ticking bomb?’
‘That’s not what I said and to be honest,
I have no idea exactly how much danger he does pose. The radiation has a
devastating effect on ninety nine per cent of the humans it infects. Jimmy and
my grandfather are the only exceptions I’ve come across, but they are at
opposite ends of the scale. I doubt he could ever exercise the level of control
that Pops did. Of course, that doesn’t mean he isn’t dangerous. The equation I
gave you holds up. If we had the right technology or capabilities, absolutely
anything could be turned into an atomic bomb.’
‘In that case, I will make sure Jimmy is
never placed in a situation that could cause him to...explode.’
Emmy chuckled, though not with any real
glee. For some reason, she was now finding Esteban quite disarming. Judging him
by his reactions to what the colonel had to say during their meeting, he
appeared to be a moral man. She even wondered if he too was being forced to act
under coercion.
‘I’m sure we’ll be fine,’ she told him.
‘Just don’t go letting your boss know that.’
‘Your secret is safe with me.’
‘Somehow, I don’t think anything is safe
in this place.’
They did not say anything more for the
rest of the short journey to Emmy’s cell. They had already said enough for now.
In the delicate game of establishing whether either could trust the other, they
had both scored equal points.
Chapter 13
The images supplied by satellite
surveillance were inconclusive. They did, however, provide the strongest lead
yet on the missing scientist. If the Americans had not yet found her, they were
getting extremely close.
The team appeared to be black-ops. Its
apparent leader was a onetime Special Forces operative believed to have gone
rogue. He had sacrificed his previous career in order to save the life of a
headstrong young woman not too dissimilar from the current mark. If they were
looking for Emmy Rayne then the presence of Esteban Cruz confirmed that their
intentions were to take her alive. This, in turn, implied two things.
Firstly, they had not yet developed
astral capability.
Secondly, they still had every intention
of achieving that goal.
Charles Nguyen was the man tasked with
making sure they would not be successful. Since his escape from Jackson’s Hill
three years earlier, he had been afforded seemingly limitless resources in
order to rebuild and refine the technology that had taken first the sanity and
then the life of his former mentor; Professor Jackson Fox. Thus far the project
had been an overwhelming success.
Once astral capability had been achieved,
the first obstacle to overcome was the radiation problem. By installing lead
shielding around the projection chambers, which could be flushed after each
journey, they were able to filter and channel the radiation into containment
tanks buried deep underground.
With the radiation problem solved,
Charlie had then been able to take the research to levels that neither he nor
Emmy could have dreamed of when they had started out. Of course, this was
balanced by a redefining of his objectives.
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