With These Eyes (19 page)

After a few ambulations around the inside of
his octagon, Ryan was ready to turn his attention to what he had
found. Isabelle and Lars were discussing the hovercraft that had
been following them since their departure from the Arctic island.
After several hours of conversation about nature and the current
state of the world, Ryan was finally hearing about Isabelle's
plan.

Lars: "Last time I saw your mother, she said
Fuji and her had solved one of the great mysteries of the universe.
All she could tell me was that ball lightning was the key and
humanity would take its next evolutionary step with the
understanding that came with their discovery. She said suspicious
types had been following her for a few days and she was anxious to
return to the jungle to work on publishing her findings. A week
later, the entire village was destroyed by lightning. It was no
ordinary storm that did that."

Isabelle: "You mean..."

Lars: "Someone started the storm
deliberately."

Isabelle: "Climate engineering is out of the
scope of any government in South America. There is just one entity
with resources like that."

Lars: "Even if Apophis seeded the storm, they
would not have been able to direct its lightning on such a
concentrated area. My masters degree is in atmospheric sciences and
I already looked into the possibilities. You would have to seed and
area at least 75 square kilometers to get any sort of reactive
cloud cover. It takes massive condensation to cause that much
lightning.

Isabelle: "The lightning from a large storm
all concentrated in one spot could level a village."

Lars: "You would have to litter the entire
place with lightning
rods."

Isabelle: "Those huts didn't have lightning
rods, I would remember. It wasn't the kind of place where people
used things like that."

A new still image came in from a cell phone
in the icebreaker's physical sciences lab. Next to a set of gas
bottles in every color of the rainbow was an agitated-looking
Isabelle. One of her feet was forward, blurred in mid-stride. A
mystical purple light shone from the night sky through a port hole
in the center of the frame. On the right-hand side of the frame,
dressed in a woolen sweater and denims, was Lars with his hot
cocoa.

Ryan had experienced Gene's betrayal first
hand and quickly understood the gravity of Isabelle's situation. He
had to find a way to help Isabelle. Since she was under
surveillance, he couldn't just call. He had to meet up with her
somehow and help. Ryan continued to listen.

Isabelle: "You know Apophis is behind
this."

Lars: "Can you believe they invited me to
their ball in Berlin?
The evening is really a coronation
ceremony for their new emperor, Gene Soskyh."

Isabelle: "I need to deal with the source of
my problems not the symptoms. Do you still have your
invitation?"

Lars: "I wrote them back and said I had no
interest in being seen there. That was a month ago and the moment I
told them no,
someone else took the spot.
"

Isabelle: "If I get to Berlin, I'll find a
way in there. It's my only chance to stop my pursuers and more
importantly stop what they’re doing to my father. I have to get
Gene to lift the quarantine and find the cure for the illness they
gave him."

Lars: "That place is locked down like a
summit meeting."

Ryan knew what he had to do. He would never
have a crush on a terrorist and it was time to prove to himself
that Isabelle wasn't one. Ryan was sure that such chivalry would
anchor him soundly in Isabelle's heart. Ryan saw himself as the
knight in shining armor, who had to rescue his damsel in distress.
It worked in fairytales and Ryan was ready to find the happy ending
where the grateful maiden ends up in the arms of her victor. The
only question was how to get to her. With all the media attention,
it seemed unlikely that Isabelle would stay in Spitsbergen much
longer. She couldn't well hide out in the ice and expect to live.
Everyone in the town must have been looking for her. It seemed even
less likely that Isabelle would return to Los Angeles. There were
just a few people who would have been able to access computers and
media on such a high level and bypass Ryan unnoticed. Only Gene and
his immediate staff had such a high clearance. Most of Apophis' top
brass was scheduled to attend Gene's inauguration later that week.
In a week-long global celebration, the Apophis Corporation had been
busily promoting their place as the one and only provider of
everything. Even those who still favored choices, soon fell victims
to the constant media barrage. The culmination at the end of seven
days of concerts, candy and coupons was to take place away from the
public eye in Berlin. Gene had scheduled himself for a coronation
ceremony before a court of his officers and politicians to ring in
his reign as the world's most powerful leader. There, the inside
crowd that was part of Gene's web of deceit would swear their
devotion and loyalty to the nefarious sovereign.

Preparations at the Prussian palace had been
under way for days. Ryan knew of the festivities because he had
been tasked with implementing a failsafe security system for the
evening. Management had the utmost concern they'd be safe from
intruders and the public eye. Ryan pulled up the event's guest
list. It was comprised of congressmen, entertainers and leaders of
industry who had played Gene's game and helped him along. Those who
didn't, mostly found themselves in Lionel's position. Ryan swiftly
added his personnel file to the guest list. He pushed his glasses
up. With a nerdy giggle, Ryan watched his name appear right after
Dr. Kenshin as one of the invited guests plus one already cleared
date.

The next day, it had come time for Ryan to
charge to the rescue of his fair maiden, Isabelle. With nothing
more than his soft-side attaché for a carry-on, Ryan had arrived at
the executive terminal of the
Bob Hope
airport in Burbank.
Apophis maintained a fleet of corporate jets at this location,
which was much less cumbersome than the overcrowded
Los Angeles
International Soskyh-Aeroplex
-
LAX
.

Over the hill from LAX, the valley-airport's
executive terminal populated with business men and politicians was
lacking the x-rays and scanners of the public airport. A very
attractive attendant was helping Apophis board members and special
friends of the firm board the flight to the festivities in Berlin.
Dressed in an Italian suit, Senator Yubellow was at the gate. The
man in his late 50s of Anglo-Saxon descent with graying hair had
proven a valuable ally to push Gene’s agendas on Congress. Yubellow
placed his right index finger on the scanner that the attractive
attendant was holding out to him. The scanner's display window
confirmed the crooked politician as an invited guest to the
celebration. The gate attendant ushered Yubellow into the jetway
with a smile. A little nervous, Ryan approached the gate. He kept
having to push his glasses up because he was perspiring quite a
bit. Isabelle's admirer placed his sweaty finger on the scanner.
Worried he may have fogged up the reader, he felt relief when he
heard the attendant's words.

"Thank you Mr. Kensington, I know you’ll have
a pleasant flight."

His finger left a foggy mark as he lifted it
off the glass. Ryan proceeded swiftly down the jetway. He had
expected to board a single or dual engine corporate jet, the view
of the plane from the terminal had been obscured. This was the
first time Ryan traveled with the company's top brass. He had
reached the end of the jetway and stepped onboard. He found himself
inside a two-story jumbo-jet that resembled a luxury hotel more
than an aircraft interior. One of many flight attendants happily
placed Ryan's attaché bag in one of the plane's amply-sized
closets.

"Feel free to sit anywhere you'd like," he
heard the friendly lady who looked like a super model say. Ryan
looked around for a while. There wasn't a bad seat in the entire
plane. Ryan chose a spot in the front the large aircraft, below the
2nd-story cockpit. His chair was so comfortable, he considered that
he might just stay seated for the entire journey. The rest of the
guests boarded the opulent jet.

Ryan closed his eyes and dreamt of ways
Isabelle might thank him as the plane lifted off for its
destination in Germany.

25 CONCRETE ISLE

After a long journey through the Arctic
Ocean, the S.S. Galaska had reached Scandinavia. She sailed south
along the coast to Öresund bay, the large body of water between
Sweden and Denmark. The two coasts where connected with a structure
that was quite unique - the
Öresund bridge-tunnel
.

A bridge carried road and rail to the middle
of the bay where they reached an artificial island. There, traffic
dropped into a tunnel that lead across the other half of the bay in
four separate tubes on the ocean floor. The two smaller tubes
carried one track of rail for each direction. Two lanes of highway
traffic each, traveled in the larger tubes. Like a forest of
mushrooms, a wind farm towered from the water in part of the bay.
The white blades that turned the generators looked picturesque
against the clear-blue Nordic sky. The public had celebrated the
bridge-tunnel's unusual design and, in their lack of understanding
for architecture, had overlooked the simple fact that a structure
of that sort just didn't make sense.

Isabelle stood on deck once again, this time
contemplating her next move. Tasha's hovercraft had been in the
same position, one nautical mile behind, slightly off the port
quarter. Isabelle knew her problems would pick up right where they
had left off after Spitsbergen once she would set foot on land.
That hovercraft had been so persistent for a reason. She noticed
how out of place the bay crossing and its adjacent wind farm looked
where she was. Isabelle would have loved to find out more but she
had a much bigger issue to address. The ship would sail into port
soon.

There were a few things that Isabelle’s
parents and Fuji had repeatedly told her. One of them was a concept
that had simplified Isabelle's life to great extend. Often when she
was faced with two problems, it would be easiest to turn each into
the solution for the other, instead of spending time seeking
separate solutions externally. This was once again the case. The
universe was guiding Isabelle on her quest. She was beginning to
see how the wisdom Fuji had taught her was nothing but the skill to
read the road map of life. Isabelle saw enlightenment as the
ability to see the universe for what it truly was. It wasn't a
place that could simply be called good or evil. The universe was a
place with light and shadow, and those who understood this, knew
that the path to their true mission in each lifetime had been
labelled. Modern man had lost the memory of how this path was
marked. Isabelle had been working on rediscovering this ancient
memory in studies and chanting with Fuji.

The land was two nautical miles away.
Isabelle knew what to do. Less than a minute later, she was in the
submarine bay with Lars. It was time for a quick hug good-bye.
After she let go, Isabelle looked into his steel-blue eyes. She saw
a man who was genuinely concerned.

"There you go, Love," Lars helped her step
onto the sub. "You're sure you'll be alright?"

"I have no doubt." Isabelle's confidence was
very reassuring to him. She really had no doubt.

A smile spread across his weathered face.
"May the sea protect you."

Isabelle felt in every fiber of her being
that there was only one response to Lars. "She will." Isabelle had
no fear. Her mind was clear to focus on her mission. She climbed
through the hatch and turned around before she disappeared inside.
"I will never forget what you did for me, Lars." Isabelle sealed
the hatch. She depressed a few switches and the craft had powered
up. Lars stood by the controls for the crane. He lifted the
bright-yellow submarine out of its docking position. Underneath,
the water surged in turbulent waves. On their way from the bridge
to the submarine bay Lars had spent the entire time counting off
reasons to Isabelle why the icebreaker had to be stationary to
launch the submersible. When he had finished, Isabelle's responded
while shrugging, "I know."

Lars saw no better way, so he wanted to at
least do what he could to make Isabelle's journey as safe as
possible. Isabelle looked at him through the enormous bubble
window. She gave him the
okay
with her thumb and index
finger. Isabelle folded her hands before her chest and mouthed
"thank you." Lars pushed down on the button that released the sub
from its mounts on the crane. The craft splashed into the whirling
water in the launch. Knut, the first mate was upstairs at the
wheel. He noticed Tasha's craft had fallen back by a mile more in
an effort to not draw attention to their pursuit. He held the ship
steady in the cold Baltic Sea. Below, Isabelle's little yellow
craft was bouncing violently in the turbulent water. Isabelle's
hands and feet were busy with conn and pedals, but the small
craft's rudders had little impact on the strong forces of the
ocean.

The little sub had almost cleared the steel
hull of the heavy ship when a wave pushed it on its side. The
conning tower was nearing the icebreaker's enormous starboard
propeller. The submersible's forward antenna-array tore off and
wrapped around the propeller's axle before it snapped like tinsel.
The bubble window was going to be next. Isabelle replayed Lars'
parting words in her mind as the propeller came within an arm's
length of her face. She held her mother's beads between her left
hand and the conn. The sea was indeed protecting her. Only a person
who had no fear would have been able to see this. Isabelle's
instinct had been right on the nose. Although Tasha had dropped
back a nautical mile, a gyroscopic camera mounted on the
hovercraft's antenna tower kept a close watch on the icebreaker.
What kept Tasha and her Troopers from noticing the submarine's
launch, was the very same roll to the side that brought Isabelle
facing the ship's propeller.