Unaltered #2_A Diamond in my Heart (17 page)

The next day flew by quickly and in
the evening I received another email from Beth:

Hi Calli. Two amulet wearers are missing
now. Charles Rhondell has disappeared also. There was no note or
indication of a struggle and I’ve voiced our suspicions of
kidnapping to the Healers and Hunters. I am personally overseeing
the safety and security of our amulet wearer and am confident no
unauthorized visitors will get by my guards. Do you know how to
contact Maetha the witch? Please respond ASAP, -Beth

I typed a response back:

Beth, I agree with you. This sounds like a
kidnapping to me also. I don’t know how to contact Maetha; she
doesn’t carry a cell phone. Excellent idea to up security around
Mrs. Winter. Whoever is behind this won’t stop until they have all
the pieces. Perhaps Clara should be relocated somewhere else, or
maybe the amulet should be hidden; I don’t know what to tell you
other than I can’t envision the future concerning Charles and
Curtis because of a strange blackness. I’m about to head home for
Spring Break, I’ll contact you in a couple of days. -Calli

The next morning as I prepared for my
first class, someone knocked on my door.

“Come in,” I shouted from my closet,
but no one entered. I walked over to the door and opened it to find
Maetha standing in the hallway looking rather nervous.

“Calli, go grab your ID, we’re going
on a short trip and that’s all I can tell you.”

Chapter 10 - Project
T19

I hadn’t even thought for a second
that maybe Maetha was rounding up the amulets so that the shards
could be reunited with the one in my heart. Was Maetha responsible
for the missing amulet wearers? I didn’t really want to ask. No, I
wasn’t going to ask because I felt deep inside that I could trust
her. Maetha had a habit of being a bit too cryptic for my
understanding, but I’d learned with Maetha you just had to go with
it and figure it out along the way.

“What about my classes?”

“You’ll miss them today.
Hurry.”

I grabbed my driver’s license and
followed her out the door to her four-door sedan. We both climbed
in and shut the doors and before I could secure my seat belt, she’d
begun backing up and driving away. The urgency in her actions spoke
louder than words.

I sat silently as she drove to the
Toledo, OH, airport. Maetha spoke to my mind telling me to not say
a word and follow her lead in everything she did.

We parked her car in long term parking
and rode the shuttle to the terminal. Once inside the building, we
proceeded to the ticket counter where Maetha purchased two one-way
tickets to New York City. I showed my ID for my ticket and noticed
out of the corner of my eye that Maetha’s ID said her name was
Janice Johnson. We took our tickets and walked to the security
gate. I kept my mouth shut, like I’d been ordered, wondering why we
were flying when we could be running. We passed through security
without any delays and headed to the designated
concourse.

We sat in the waiting area for only a
few minutes before the boarding process began. I noticed a few
security guards standing in the distance talking on their radios.
One kept looking in our direction. I tried to read his lips but
found it impossible due to the radio positioned in front of his
mouth. His mind and future appeared the same as Travis’; a bit
murky and hard to read. I looked at Maetha and placed some thoughts
on the front of my mind.

“That guard is an
unaltered human.”

“I know. He’s been
following us.”

“Should we be
worried?”

“Do as I say and follow
what I do; that’s all you need to worry about. Stop looking at
him.”

We stood and took our place in line to
board the plane. Our ID’s were checked once again before boarding
and we made our way out the door to the waiting commuter plane.
Maetha’s voice sounded in my head instructing me to look to my
right at the large vehicle parked near the building. We climbed the
stairs and found our assigned seats.

“Calli, when everyone has
boarded the plane, we will exit using our running power and hide
behind that vehicle. Wait for my go.”

The last person entered through the
door and the flight attendant looked as if she was about to close
it. Maetha stood, I followed and we burst out of the plane before
the door was closed. We huddled behind the large truck and waited
for the plane to leave the tarmac.

“Follow me.”
Maetha stood and grabbed my hand.

She began running across the large
airplane parking lot and once we were across the multiple runways
she released the hold on my hand. I followed her lead leaping over
the security fence and continuing on heading west. We ran for at
least an hour covering so much ground before we stopped in Angola,
Indiana.

“Very good, Calli,” she spoke out
loud. “We were followed from the moment I picked you up to boarding
the plane. More CIA officials will be at the gate in NYC waiting
for us to deplane. They’ll probably be a little upset when they
realize we aren’t on the plane. Thank you for your patience, Calli,
I apologize that I cannot tell you where we’re going just
yet.”

“I understand.”
Sort of.

“Your mind can still be accessed;
therefore, I won’t be putting anything in it that can be read by
our foes.”

We started running again turning to
the south and stopping in Fort Wayne, IN, at a large office
building. Maetha approached a particular door that had a keypad
lock and entered in a code that unlocked the door. We entered the
building and quickly walked the long hallway to a door labeled
‘Food Additives’. Maetha put her finger to her lips to remind me to
be quiet and she opened the door.

A medium-build man stood in the far
corner by a filing cabinet. He had gray hair and thick glasses and
looked to be about sixty. “You brought an accessory with you this
time.”

“Calli, this is Hans Lindlbauer. He is
our chief researcher in DNA studies and is also a Reader.” Maetha
walked to the window and peered out and I met Hans halfway to shake
his hand.

“Did you transfer your research
exactly as I instructed?” Maetha asked him.

“Yes. I’m ready.”

“Calli, you will hold his hand and
transfer your speed. Let’s go.”

I grabbed his hand and followed Maetha
out the door. When we exited the building we turned on the speed
and headed in a southwest direction. I noted the time, 1:00PM. I
also noted the dark storm clouds up ahead; we were about to be
drenched.

We ran only a short distance to a post
office where Maetha opened a mailbox and pulled out a package.
Inside she pulled out three running suits similar to the one I wore
on the delivery journey from before. The fact that Maetha thought
we needed the specialized running clothes meant we were going to be
running for awhile and normal clothing wouldn’t stand up to the
friction and air retention. Mr. Lindlbauer seemed to understand and
I got the feeling this wasn’t his first time to run
cross-country.

We changed quickly in the small
bathroom and stuffed our clothes in the trash can by the door after
removing our valuables. Maetha looked at the two of us and said, “I
can’t tell you where we're going, just know it’s a long run. I had
to find a secure location for you Hans, the other was
compromised.”

“How can you be certain this next
location won’t be exposed as well?” He bobbed his head in my
direction. I couldn’t believe it; he thought I might be a snitch or
a spy.

“Hans, Calli and I are of the same
blood. You have nothing to worry about concerning her. Let’s
go.”

We ran for four hours and the initial
drenching we experienced from the thunderstorm quickly dried as we
ran. I couldn’t quite tell where we were until we stopped at the
Patoka Lake resort in Indiana. Maetha had a keycard for a room and
she opened the door for us.

Right away I noticed this wasn’t any
ordinary hotel room, this was someone’s living quarters. I scanned
the room with a critical eye. The books on the shelving unit were
old, very old, and above them I saw several painted portraits of
men, women and children framed in intricately carved wooden frames.
Antiques littered the room; oriental vases, snuff boxes, salt
dishes, Faberge eggs, nesting dolls, crystal bells, lamps, and
shadow boxes filled with silver and gold coins.

I looked at Maetha realizing this was
her room and these antiques weren’t simply collected in the same
manner an antiques dealer would build a collection; no, these items
had been gathered throughout Maetha’s multi-millennial life and
each probably had special significance.

“Hans, your studies will arrive
tomorrow but I’ve set up a mini lab in the other room. Would you
take a look to see if I forgot anything?” Maetha pointed in the
direction of a door across the room and Hans walked to the door and
entered. She turned to me and answered the questions on the front
of my mind.

“Yes, this is one of my residences.
Yes, not many individuals know of its existence, and yes, bringing
Hans here indicates the level of severity of the
situation.”

Hans came back in the room. “You were
very thorough in your preparations, Maetha. Now tell me about the
subjects I tested.”

“Why don’t you tell me what you found
first?”

“Alright, the new blood samples show
inconsistent alterations compared to other high-powered
individuals. The alteration appears to have been forced upon the
subject.”

I looked at Maetha and she told me
through telepathy that the blood samples were from Repeaters. I
turned to Mr. Lindlbauer and asked, “Are you saying this ability is
manmade?”

He stared at me and then asked Maetha,
“How much does she know?”

“More than you, Hans; she is in direct
contact with one of them.”

He rubbed his jaw and seated himself
in one of the ornate high-boy chairs in the corner. “Until further
research validates my studies, I cannot be certain, but the
possible implications are monumental.” He looked at Maetha, “Just
before you arrived today, I learned that the government has been
working on two top-secret projects dealing with DNA modification.
Twenty-five years ago project ‘T19’ was launched and directed on
pregnant women yet failed miserably when the exposed fetuses were
inflicted with severe defects and deformities. T19 was in operation
for six years before the plug was pulled. It was assumed that it
was a complete failure. The subjects’ blood you submitted for
testing fits the time frame and doesn’t fit the bill of natural
alteration. Oh, and all the samples have the same paternal
DNA.”

I looked at Maetha for answers shocked
to hear that Brand’s father had also fathered the other Repeaters.
Instead, Maetha asked him more questions. “What is the other
project, Hans?”

He continued, “It was instituted in
the early eighties and is still in operation, although I don’t know
if it’s anything to worry about. It involves sequestering men and
women in government-run underground facilities in some sort of
baby-making operation. According to my information, the women were
only kept in the facilities for the first five months of their
pregnancies and then released back into society and each
participant was a willing party. I don’t know why they classified
it as ‘DNA modification’ though. There’s a third project, Maetha;
it is in the weapons sector but I don’t know much about that one
other than it was headed up by General Harding and a male civilian
whose mind is similar to yours.”

My mind recalled Freedom saying,
‘Where I come from Unaltereds are a dime a dozen.’ Apparently the
government was creating Unaltereds and Freedom was deeply involved
with the program. That had to explain why he had such a large group
of guys to fight Brand.

Maetha’s voice came into my mind
acknowledging my supposition as she walked to the small
refrigerator and pulled out three bottles of juice and passed them
to us. I hadn’t seen this variety before and when I tasted it I
realized it was most likely something Clara Winter had made. It
reminded me of the food and beverages served at the Runners'
compound; it reminded me of Chris. I quickly deduced that between
hearing his father’s name and tasting familiar flavors my mind
recalled his face and all the emotions and feelings buried deep in
my soul.

Maetha asked Hans, “May I look into
your mind to see the face of the man?”

“Certainly.”

I found it extremely interesting that
she’d ask permission to do something she could have done without
him even knowing. Could it be that this Reader had no idea of whom
he was dealing with?

“Ah, yes. I know that man,”
she said to Hans and at the same time spoke to my mind,
“It’s Freedom, and no, Hans doesn’t know anything
about my abilities.”

Hans finished his juice drink and
glanced around the room and asked, “Maetha, how secure is this
room?”

“I’ve lived here undetected for thirty
years. The owner is my friend and the staff never enters the room.
It will remain safe so long as you don’t venture
outside.”