PERIL (9 page)

“Glad you could make it,” Reed says.

“Wouldn’t have missed it. So how long before we reach Giza?” Vanessa asks.

“About two hours flight time”

“Good enough time to bond with the crew,” Vanessa says loudly enough for the crew to hear her.

Lt. Cruise is seated directly across from her. He rolls his eyes at Bains’ attempt to warm up to the squad.

The crew’s camaraderie is clearly obvious to Vanessa. They laugh and joke with one another barely interacting with her. Their kinship was expected, they did after all serve together on many missions under their previous Captain Briggs. Still she feels left out.

Reed tries to comfort her.

“Give it time they’ll warm up to you. They’re a little rough around the edges, but you won’t find a better crew within the company.”

Vanessa manages a smile, but it is forced and Lt. Cruise notices.

“We’re cleared for take off,” the pilot seated at the front of the shuttle says to his co-pilot.

They tap on a few buttons at their station and the engines rev up.

“Autopilot engage,” the pilot commands the onboard computer.

“State destination,” the computer responds.

“The Neon Bar,” Lt. Cruise yells from the rear of the craft referring to a go-go bar located on The Metropolis, a cruise ship orbiting just above Earth’s atmosphere.

“Ah, good times,” Nickolette chimes in as he high fives Cruise. 

The pilot is not amused.

“The Pyramid of Giza,” the pilot instructs the computer.

The crew straps themselves in and the craft lifts off from the launch pad. After it reaches a high altitude the craft’s rear jet engines ignites and the shuttle blasts off at lightning speed.

Dr. Pierce is seated next to Lt. Amanda Magruder. They speak quietly to each other.

“Come by my office after the ceremony and I’ll prescribe something,” Dr. Pierce says to Magruder.

“Everything ok, Lt.?” Vanessa inquires.

“Yeah, I just get a little queasy before cryo. Pre-flight jitters, its nothing,” Magruder responds.

An hour and fifty-five minutes into the flight, the craft is over th
e
Desert Ocean of Giza.
 
The pilot brings the craft to a lower altitude just above the water. The shuttle’s locator beacon flashes on the console in front of the pilots indicating that the craft is approaching the Pyramid of Giza. It’s hidden beneath the ocean. Only the tip of its peak pierces the surface of the water.

They fly so close to the ocean surface that huge water droplets splash across the craft’s windshield. The waves kick up against the bottom of the vessel. The shuttles occupants feel the turbulence and holds on to their harnesses as they are jostled in their seats. Suddenly, the pilot takes notice of the approaching tip of the Pyramid. He signals the command station of their arrival.

The Pyramid separates at its mid-section lifting the colossal top half out of the water. Huge metal shafts push the enormous structure higher and higher as larges amounts of seawater fall down around it. The spectacle looks like a massive waterfall. Underneath, a huge landing bay is revealed. The crew lean forward looking up to the front of the craft trying to get a look at the display.

“Puts me in awe every time I see it,” Reed says aloud.

“I’m sure its something,” Bains says.

Reed reaches back and rubs her shoulder in order to comfort her.

“Ah, if you’ve seen one spectacle you’ve seen them all,” Reed says.

Bains rubs his hand appreciating his attempt to dismiss the scenery. The ship flies into the bay splashing through the rushing waterfall.

It lands and the Pyramid structure retreats back under the sea. Inside, the Pyramid is massive. Over the decades the entire construct has been renovated and its size has been increased by four times. Many technicians and military personnel go about their routines.

The group exists their transport shuttle and is greeted by Dr. Shalus, a Holy Mystagogue. She is dressed in a black robe and has a white bindi on her forehead. She touches it with her middle finger and proceeds to touch the foreheads of the crew. The all remove their boots and socks immediately. The Pyramid is considered to be a temple and holy ground.

“Here you will embark on a journey of wisdom shedding any doubts, boundaries…” Dr. Shalus tells the crew as she anoints their foreheads.

She arrives at Vanessa Bains last and touches her forehead.

“…And regrets.”

“To go with infinite knowledge,” the group responds in unison.

Vanessa is not a follower of Fathomism, however she goes along with the practice as it relates to her position at Ares Corporation. All of the rituals and conflicting ideas seem tedious to her. Fathomism provided the unity the world needed to end all the recent wars, although conversely it was divisive and allowed for an unyielding dictatorship.

Dr. Shalus leads the crew to a platform that takes them to a lower level of the complex.

The crew showers before the ceremony and is given robes. They are led to an enlightenment ceremony chamber known as The Great Hall of Wisdom. They enter the large hall. Candles and torches are ceremoniously lit throughout it. The walls and ceilings have holographic frescos painted on them representing the universe and high holy figures from many religions all joined together to represent the Fathom Religion.

In the center of the room sits a large circular unit able to accommodate several people. The unit had several indented shapes that resemble a human form seated in upright positions around its circumference near the floor. These indentations are where the crew will be seated in Indian-style positions.

The crew disrobes and several Mystagogues come to them and paint several symbols on their naked bodies. They sit within the indentations on the unit.  One of the Mystagogues is standing at a console in the front of the hall. He opens a channel to the awaiting public. The ceremony is broadcasted around the world and to off world colonies.

Vanessa is nervous. What would she see on her journey, she thinks to herself.

Suddenly, The Seeyer appears above them. Its swirling mass of energy and star-like emanations seem to blend in perfectly with the holographic fresco of the Universe that is projected from the ceiling. Everyone lowers their heads daring not to look upon it.

The crew sits in Indian style with the back of their wrists resting on their knees and forefingers touching their thumbs. The sound of an OM Mantra resonates with perfect clarity throughout the hall. The crew closes their eyes and begins their journey into their subconscious. With their eyes closed they hum mimicking the tone of the OM Mantra. Technicians and Nyna monitor their neurological and biological scans from behind a glass partition above them in a far corner of the hall. Nyna is a member of the crew, but as an android her participation in the ritual is as a spectator. She has no subconscious to explore.

As the crew hums Vanessa can feel the resonance of their voices matching with the OM Mantra. It vibrates throughout her body. She feels as if she is free falling down an empty void.

“Clarity, focus, enlightenment is the way to infinite knowledge,” The Seeyer says in an awesome voice.

A plasma-like wave circles above the unit housing the crew. It gives off faint discharges that make contact with the top of the unit. The charges make their way down the unit to the heads of the crewmembers interacting with their brainwaves.

“Allow the esse
nce of my being to engage your inner peace,” The Seeyer persuaded the crew as the plasma waves ignite their senses. One of the technicians notices a spike in Vanessa’s brain wave patterns.

Vanessa gasps as she glimpses a quick flash of light. It is an image, but it is too quick to make out.

“Focus your thoughts on my voice. There is nothing but the vast Universe around you. Here you will find clarity, focus and enlightenment.” Channel all your thoughts to the center of the Universe. HE, is here. HE, is the progenitor of all creation,” The Seeyer says soothingly.

Vanessa feels as if she is in the presence of something greater than herself. It is magnificent. It can only be described as a feeling of immense love and joy. Then she feels a rushing sensation. Is she flying or falling? She can’t tell she is completely disoriented.

The back panel of the unit glows bright yellow and it releases a wave of energy into the spines of the crew.

Lt. Ricardo Cruise appears to be having some sort of erotic sensation. Vanessa can hear him moan aloud as she descends deeper into her subconscious. The last audible sound she hears before losing contact with the outside world is Lt. Amanda Magruder saying, “We have each other and that’s all that...”

BOOM! Suddenly, out of the darkness Vanessa sees a star go supernova. The sound of it is like a thousand thunderbolts exploding at once. Its white-bluish blast radius plums out toward her consuming every other star in its path. The bright ring of gas and energy envelopes Vanessa completely. She is totally submerged in her vision. She is surrounded by light. The experience seems surreal yet she feels a warm sensation all over her body.

The light begins to dissipate giving way to the image of a fetus. She can see, hear and feel its heartbeat. The thumping sound is intense and synchronous with hers. She knows that the fetus is her unborn child. Yet, it feels out of place. Not dead, but alive. She wants to reach out to it but she cannot. A sense of sadness, joy and confusion overwhelm her. She kno
ws she terminated the pregnancy; however, in her deep state of meditation she feels her baby is still alive.

“How can this be?” She says aloud.

The Seeyer, monitoring the crew senses Vanessa’s anguish and confusion. However, it cannot see her vision. This is beyond its ability. It tries to infiltrate Vanessa’s cognitive state. Vanessa can feel The Seeyer’s attempt to gain access to her inner thoughts and blocks it. At that moment her mind is somehow linked to The Seeyer and for a brief moment she senses Todd’s presence.

“Todd! Can you hear me? Are you at peace? What is it like there?” Vanessa rambles mentally to Todd’s soul. There is no response only silence.

The Seeyer finds Vanessa’s mind to be an enigma. Vanessa’s unyielding curiosity and intellect is only matched by her will to survive and the survival of the human race. Can she solve the riddle awaiting mankind on MV5? The Seeyer decides to test this theory.

The Seeyer opens the Crimson Expanse Wormhole and proceeds to send her subconscious through it. Vanessa’s mind is drawn to the mouth of the wormhole. It sucks her in. She rapidly flies through the elaborate glowing tunnel. Faster and faster she goes seeing star systems pass by her at faster than light speed. The wormhole is like a brilliantly lit rollercoaster ride taking her through several twists and turns.

Vanessa is then ejected from the wormhole. Her mind immediately links to the probe sent to orbit MV5. It has crash-landed in a crater on the planet. Vanessa can mentally tap into its memory core. At first she sees the eerie planetoid from a distance, then three habitat stations and the planet’s primordial surface.

Then she perceives a vague image of a biological non-human life form and a cave wall that seemed to resonate. Within seconds the image is gone. Her link to the probe is severed and it becomes a fading memory. She tries to retain it, but it is as if it were purged like wiped data from a computer chip. All that is left of her link with the probe are sketchy images and a fearful feeling of what is to come.

After the Enlightenment Ceremony in The Great Hall of Wisdom, some of the crewmembers prepare for their surgical procedures. Vanessa is taken to a medical lab to undergo an eye surgery that would fully restore her sight.

She is lying on a leather reclining chair with an elaborate headrest. There is a mechanical arm attached to the headrest equipped with lasers, a scanning device and other paraphernalia. Dr. Pierce oversees the procedure.

Lt. Leroy Reed escorted her there and they discuss their recent experience during the ceremony.

“I don’t know, Lee. It was as if my baby was still alive.”

“Vanessa these vision quests can seem real, but I find its better to look at the images as figurative, abstract, you know?”

“It seemed so real. I know my baby can’t possibly be alive, but I felt it. It was as real as you standing here talking to me now.”

“Perhaps the termination is still very fresh in your mind and you haven’t really had time to come to terms with everything. You and Tyler had planned on a family for a while.”

“Maybe,” Vanessa reluctantly agrees with Reed’s perception.

Oddly, Vanessa keeps the part about her sensing Todd’s presence in her vision to herself.

Dr. Pierce enters the room and begins to prep Vanessa for the procedure. He didn’t have the best bedside manner and tended to take a cold approach to his work. He adjusts the equipment around Vanessa’s head with quick precision then callously tightens the head restraints.