Emerald Sky (8 page)

Jimmy clenched his fists with
frustration. He was missing something; he just did not know what. Desperate for
the answer, he replayed what he had seen in his head. Despite never having
happened, the memory was still clear to him. He could still see the faces of
the people onboard. All of them were terrified as in those last moments they
each knew that they were about to die. Just thinking about it weakened his
legs.

Esteban grabbed hold of the kid to steady
him.

‘It’s okay, Jimmy. For whatever reason,
we stopped it and that has to be a good thing. If what you say is true and you
saw the train collide then we have saved hundreds of lives. Nobody could have
survived such a disaster.’

Finally, Jimmy knew the answer. He
replayed the memory one more time and it was now clear to him.

‘Somebody did survive,’ he said.

‘Not somebody – everybody,’ replied
Esteban.

‘No, not here. It was in my vision.
Somebody did survive. I saw a woman come away from the wreckage unhurt.’

Esteban was about to dismiss the thought
when the realisation of what Jimmy was thinking hit him.

‘This woman,’ he began; ‘tell me what she
looks like.’

Chapter 11

Widespread panic swept through the train.
Nobody was sure what was happening, which also meant that nobody knew if the
danger had fully passed. They had all felt the impact and some had even seen
the trailers from the truck tipping over by the side of the tracks. Only when
the train came to a full stop did the initial reactions of shock transgress
into fevered speculation.

‘It’s terrorists!’ exclaimed one
passenger, with a particularly overactive imagination.

‘It’s an earthquake!’ decried another,
with an equally loose grasp on the reality of the situation.

‘Everybody calm down,’ said a ticket
inspector, attempting to take control. ‘There are no terrorists and neither has
there been an earthquake. I’ve spoken to the driver and it appears there was an
obstruction blocking the tracks. There may have been an impact, which is why we
have stopped as a safety measure. Once the damage, if any, has been assessed,
we should be able to get back underway.’

‘Well, I want to get off,’ said an irate
passenger standing to the inspector’s left.

‘Me too,’ said another. ‘It’s obviously
not safe in here. What if a bomb goes off?’

The mention of a bomb, no matter how
inane a suggestion, was enough to restart the panic, and the passengers pushed
and forced their way to the nearest exit. Reluctantly, the inspector had no
choice but to let them off, even if it was just to avoid anyone being crushed
in the melee.

One passenger, however, remained calm and
stayed in her seat. For her, there was a greater concern surrounding the
current predicament. Just before the carriage had struck the corner of the
trailer, she had seen somebody standing by a jeep about twenty yards from the
track. Although she had not gotten a good look at his face, she knew exactly
who it was, and given what had happened in the subsequent interval, she knew
exactly why he was there. This was what he did. He averted disaster. At least,
that was what she kept telling herself. Deep down she knew there had to be more
to it. Ever since the tragedy she had known never to take what seemed like a
coincidence at face value. The real question she was asking herself was whether
he knew that she was on the train.

The carriage was now empty and it
occurred to her that she stood a better chance of anonymity in a crowd. If he
was looking for her this would make no difference, but if he was not then it
offered some protection while she figured out her next move.

She cautiously climbed down from the
carriage and began mingling with the other passengers. Snatches of conversion
could be heard as she passed the people and the speculation seemed to be
centred on the man driving the truck they could all now see sprawled either
side of the tracks. Some thought he had stalled on the crossing and others
thought he had purposefully driven into the carriage. Emmy was more concerned
by Jimmy’s whereabouts. She could see that he had climbed back into his jeep.

Relief swept over her. His leaving would
avoid opening up a lot of old wounds. She thought it best to stay behind the
carriage until she was certain he had gone. Any normal person would wait around
to give a statement after helping to avert an accident, but she knew that Jimmy
was not a normal person. The last thing he would want was to receive any kind
of publicity.

All she could do now was to wait. The
train was not going anywhere until a maintenance crew arrived to clear the
debris from the track and shore up the damaged carriage. She was also unsure if
the driver of the truck had been hurt. The front of the cab looked quite
battered. If the driver was hurt, it could take a while for medical help to arrive.
Although knowing Jimmy, chances were that the casualty rate would be zero. She
often followed news stories based around near tragedies and life saving
miracles, all the time wondering if he was involved.

She dared take a peek through a gap
between carriages to see if he had left yet. Not only was he still there, but
there were two jeeps identical to the one that Jimmy was seated in arriving
from behind. She also noticed another detail that had failed to register
earlier. She was getting sloppy and on this occasion it could cost her. What
she had failed to notice earlier was that when Jimmy climbed back into his
jeep, he got into the passenger side. This was troubling as they had both
agreed that he would tell nobody about his gift. They had an understanding that
to protect both of them he would always act on his visions alone.

Somebody whom she did not recognise was
talking to the driver of the train. She had made sure to get a look at every
passenger during the three hours of her journey prior to the unplanned stop and
he was definitely not one of them. He pointed to the cab several times and she
guessed he was the driver, but he seemed confused, as if he was looking for
somebody else. That was when she felt the nub of the pistol pressing into her
ribs.

‘Don’t move,’ said the stranger with the
gun. ‘I want you to turn around very slowly and look at me.’

‘I thought you didn’t want me to move?’

‘Don’t get cute; just do it.’

She duly obliged and as she did so, he at
least stepped back with the gun.

‘What do you want?’ she asked, feigning
fear and surprise in equal measure.

‘I think you already know the answer to
that.’

He reached inside his jacket with his
free hand and removed a small mobile device. He held it up so that the screen
was facing her. It displayed a photo of her. He must have taken it just moments
earlier. It was the first still image she had seen of her new look, but
evidently the change was not drastic enough.

‘If you’d only asked, I would have smiled
for you,’ she said, sarcastically this time.

‘Really,’ he replied. ‘Because I thought
you weren’t too keen on having your picture taken.’

He pressed a button on the device and the
photograph was replaced by an older one, but the image was still clearly her.
It was from her Alex Rose phase when she had sported long, reddish-brown hair
and carried a great deal fewer worries than her current predicament brought
with it.

‘Facial recognition software did the
match,’ said the stranger. ‘Although we never would have found you without the
help of a mutual friend.’

‘You bastards.’

He shrugged.

‘I don’t disagree, but we all have to do
our job. Now, very slowly, start walking my way.’

She considered running, but where too?
Instead, she did as he asked of her and as they moved around the front of the
train one of the black jeeps pulled up by the tracks.

‘Take off your shirt,’ ordered the
stranger.

‘You know, I’m really not your type,’ she
said, but did as she was told regardless.

‘Now take out your ticket.’

She stood holding the shirt in one hand
and her ticket in the other. The back door of the jeep opened up and a woman
jumped out. She was dressed in black combat gear the same as the man who had
the gun trained on her. The female soldier (or whatever she was) removed her
Kevlar and replaced it with Emmy’s shirt. Her transformation was completed by
tying up her hair and hiding it under a baseball cap. She then snatched the
ticket before disappearing around the other side of the train.

‘Get in,’ the gunman ordered.

Emmy did as she was told. Another jeep
was parked by the front of the train where one of the kidnappers was bullying a
member of the crew with some form of undoubtedly bogus ID as his weapon. Once
she was inside the rear of the vehicle she had a pair of handcuffs slapped over
her wrists. These were not really necessary as they were immediately followed
by a needle being stabbed into her arm. After that, she lost consciousness
quickly.

***

Esteban rejoined Jimmy in the lead
vehicle. The mission had been an unequivocal success, but he was in no mood for
rejoicing. In all his years of undercover work he had become a master at
deceiving people. He had also learnt how to spot deceit in others with
virtually one hundred percent accuracy. Just like Jimmy, the scientist appeared
genuine. His gut told him she was no more a threat to international security
than the benign young psychic sat beside him.

‘Have I done the right thing?’ he asked.

Jimmy did not respond.

‘Come on, kid – give me something here.
You know this woman. Not just what she may or may not be capable of, but who
she is. Do you think that what we have done today is right?’

‘It doesn’t matter if it is right or
wrong. You can’t avoid doing what you have to do.’

‘That’s not true. Rules can be broken.
Orders can be ignored. Just because some suit in Washington demands it, doesn’t
mean we have to deliver it.’

‘You didn’t capture Dr Rayne because you
were following orders,’ said Jimmy.

‘Yes, I did. I don’t do this as a hobby,
believe me.’

‘That’s not what I meant.’

Esteban briefly took his eyes off the
road ahead to glance over at his passenger. Jimmy showed no emotion at all. He
did not even show any real interest in the conversation. He just sat there,
scanning the desolate scenery for things the soldier could not begin to guess
at.

‘So what did you mean?’ Esteban asked.

‘Isn’t it obvious?’ replied Jimmy. ‘It
wasn’t your colonel or these people in Washington that led you to Emmy - it was
me. We’re here because my visions brought us here. There has to be a reason for
that.’

‘Which is?’

Jimmy shrugged.

‘Beats me.’

Esteban smiled. He finally realised that
he, Jimmy, the colonel and even Emmy Rayne were all in exactly the same
position. Each one was entirely at the mercy of fate and not one of them had
any clue what they were doing.

Chapter 12

She woke in a strange bed. The mattress
was hard and the pillow stiff. It reminded her of several dives she had stayed
in whilst on the run. This place was not trying to pass itself off as a hotel,
however. There were no windows and the only way in or out was through a
reinforced steel door directly opposite the bed. An incandescent light
illuminated the room, albeit with a slight intermittent flicker. Furniture
wise, there was the bed, a sink and a bucket. It was fair to say that this was
the worst place she had ever woken.

As she sat up, a low humming sound drew
her attention to the first of two cameras covering the cell. Between the pair,
whoever was watching had an unobstructed view of the entire room without any
blind spots. She offered a wave and just seconds later she heard the lock on
the door move. A young soldier in standard khaki combat fatigues entered. He
was holding a gun, but it looked unlike any weapon she had seen before. The
design was similar to that of a taser and she assumed this was a prototype not
yet on the open market.

‘Dr Rayne,’ the soldier began, ‘the
colonel will see you now.’

‘Can I at least get dressed?’

‘You don’t have any clothes to put on.’

She realised that he spoke the truth and
instantly raised the blanket to her chin to shield herself. They had robbed her
of her shirt back at the train and before putting her into the bed they had
also taken her jeans, leaving her in just a bra and knickers.

‘It’s a little chilly here, so do you
mind if I take the blanket?’

She interpreted his lack of a response as
an acceptance and wrapped the rough cotton blanket around her before joining
him at the door.

‘You’re not authorized to remove any
items,’ he told her, sharply tugging the blanket from her shoulders and
throwing it back onto the bed.

‘I have rights,’ she protested.

‘Not here, you don’t.’

The soldier grabbed her roughly by the
arm and pushed her out into the corridor where a second soldier was waiting.
They then both escorted her to an elevator, which took them up three floors to
where another corridor led onto a large office. Two men were inside. One of
them was the same man that had apprehended her on the train. The other was
obviously the colonel as he had lots of meaningless medals stuck to his chest
and was sat behind a large wooden desk. The office reminded her of her
grandfather’s.

She felt a feeling of instant disgust
seeing her captor again and judging by the expression that he pulled, the
feeling was mutual. He strutted towards her with a cruel arrogance, but as he
got closer she realised that his disdain was not directed at her.

‘You are both arseholes,’ he said to the
guards as he took off his jacket and placed it around her shoulders, giving her
back some of her dignity.

‘I’m sorry,’ he told her, unable to look her
in the eyes.

She did not know if he was apologising
for the taking of her clothes or her freedom. She did not show him any
gratitude for she still believed he deserved none. In her experience, those
following orders were just as culpable as those who issued them.

‘Take a seat,’ offered the man behind the
desk.

She did as she was told and then waited
for him to start talking. The cell, the humiliation, it was all a front for
their real intentions. Unlikely as it seemed, she was the one with the most
power in the room. She had knowledge and skills that they would pay anything
for. Since money held no interest to her, their main bargaining power would be
built around empty promises and sincere threats.

‘I’m Colonel Rodman. This is Special
Agent Esteban Cruz, our CIA liaison.’

She looked at Agent Cruz, attempting to
gauge his character. He had earlier shown an act of kindness and she hoped this
may be repeated if the negotiations did not go in her favour.

‘Liaison?’ she asked.

‘I do his dirty work. The military has
certain rules it has to abide by, whereas my organization is a little more
flexible.’

‘At least you’re honest.’

‘Not really. That’s why I’m so good at
what I do.’

She turned back to face the colonel.

‘Let’s just cut the crap. I know what you
want from me and you won’t get it. My machine caused so much misery. Hundreds
of lives were needlessly lost. There’s nothing that could make me want to build
another.’

‘Don’t be so sure,’ replied the colonel.
‘There is more at stake than you know.’

‘Now you have me in your custody there’s
nothing more you can take from me. I no longer care what happens to me. You can
throw me back into a cell to rot or put a bullet in my skull right now. The
choice, Colonel, is all yours.’

‘I do not think it needs to come to
either of those things. When you understand what we’re up against, I’m confident
that you’ll reconsider.’

‘I already told you there’s nothing more
you can take from me. You have no bargaining power. Try torturing me and see
where that gets you. The bond between mind and body is a little more flexible
with me. I can end my own life as easily as turning off a light bulb. Then what
have you got?’

The colonel grinned. It was more of a
smirk than a smile. He was beginning to enjoy the exchange. His prisoner had
passion and he knew more than most how passion can be manipulated.

‘What if it were not your life on the
line? Would you be willing to condemn others so easily?’

She smirked back at him.

‘If you mean Jimmy then you’re welcome to
give it a go. I don’t know how you got him to help you, but believe me when I
tell you that it would be a mistake to try and hurt him in any way. That boy
has no idea of his own power. Have you ever seen what happens when a snake is
backed into a corner?’

‘You’re bluffing – the boy is harmless.
He’s a simpleton; he can’t even control what little power he has.’

‘And my grandfather was just a crippled
old man in a wheelchair. Are you aware of Einstein’s theory of special
relativity?’

‘e=mc
²
you mean?’

‘Let me rephrase; when I said aware, I should
have asked “do you understand?”. As you probably know; the “e” in the equation
equates to energy; the “m” is mass and “c” represents the speed of light. Given
that Jimmy’s mass is about 70 kilos and the speed of light is damn near 300,000
kilometres a second, why don’t you try working out the “e” part.’

The colonel shrugged.

‘Let’s just say it all adds up to a very large
number,’ she continued. ‘In fact, the amount of compressed energy held inside a
typical human being adds up to many times the energy that was released by the
Hiroshima bomb. If you’d seen my grandfather just before his death you would’ve
known just how dangerous he’d become. All that separates him and Jimmy is about
a hundred IQ points. If you’re smart, you’ll handle Jimmy with kid gloves.’

The colonel looked to Esteban, but the
other man could only return the uncertainty. They both knew very little of what
ultimately happened at Jackson’s Hill and could not discern if the scientist
was bluffing.

‘Now I have a proposition for you,’ she said.
‘If you let me leave here with Jimmy and do not follow us, I will cure him.
I’ll ensure he is no longer a danger to anybody and then we will both disappear
forever.’

The colonel regained his patronising
smirk. It seemed to be the default expression on his face. Either he did not
understand what she was saying or he did not care. In just the brief time that
Emmy had known him, she assumed either option was equally likely.

‘Okay then,’ he told her. ‘I accept your
terms. The two of you are free to leave here right now, if you so please. Of
course, in doing so you’ll be condemning one hundred and thirty seven people to
almost certain death.’

‘One hundred and thirty seven?’

She was concerned, but not quite worried.
There was a strong chance that wherever he was going with this, it was a bluff.

‘That’s right – one hundred and thirty
seven. That’s the number of people you infected with your poisonous experiments.
Well, actually it’s the number of people that you infected who’re still alive.
There’s no official figure for the casualties that were incurred. With nothing we
can do for them there’s not really much point in continuing to prolong their
lives. I’ll terminate all life support once you’ve left.’

Her heart sank until it became an
indigestible weight deep in the pit of her stomach. She had hoped for and
dreaded news of other survivors in equal measure for the past three years. If
what the colonel said was true then she had no choice but to help. As far as
she understood the nature of the radiation, there was only one effective way to
immunise against it and in theory there was a chance the same process could
provide a cure. There was just one problem; it required building another astral
projection unit. In doing so, she would be handing over the most dangerous
technology on the planet to one of its most reckless and aggressive
organisations.

‘If I do this; I work alone.’

‘That would take years, which is out of
the question. We already have experts that 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.