No sooner had Simon Cooper coalesced into real space, than he instantly re-teleported to the far side of the Sun. As he did so, he uttered a single, far-spoken word on the declamatory mode: NOW!
Using the corona of the star to mask his presence, Simon then activated three pyramid pods. However, instead of entering the tunnels, he merely scattered a quantity of false psi-dent chips about his close proximity.
All but one was sucked into the vortices, leaving a plethora of false trails throughout the subspace medium. The remaining ident, Simon projected on a sub-light collision course with Mars. Let their base there think they have a fugitive in their sights. I’ll be long gone and getting familiar with my new tridentity by the time they discover their error.
Lingering to ensure his atomic structure exactly matched the rest of the chromosphere about him, Simon held himself in place until a particularly large prominence curled up through the photosphere from the convection zone below.
Giving the plasma ribbon a final push, he guaranteed its liberty, and blended to its essence as it started a sedate journey toward Earth. I can’t believe how quickly that all fell apart at the seams. I hope the rest of the stages run more smoothly. . .
. . .Because if they don’t, we’ll seriously need to reevaluate our policies.
*
Ali glanced at his watch repeatedly as his team pounded along the passageways, all pretence for stealth long gone. It had been a shock to discover they were on board a modern-day version of the Mary Celeste, and the situation felt more and more like a trap the longer they were here.
One hour!
That’s all they had left. Just one brief portion of the day before the huge container ship was blown out of the water and all hell broke loose.
And what a hell it would be.
Ali was no expert in such matters. Far from it. Nonetheless, had been doing his homework in the weeks since knowledge of what they were transporting on behalf of their mystery benefactor had sunk in.
The devices were low yield. That much he did know. When they detonated, the initial fireball would only irradiate an area up to a measly one mile radius from the epicenter, so there was little chance of anyone from the White Sails being harmed straight away. From what he remembered, the resultant ionization would be harmful to living tissue; in particular, the chemical bonds holding the atoms of the body together. Though devastating, that type of radiation was short-lived. So, if they were far enough away when the bombs exploded, they wouldn’t be harmed.
IF we’re far enough away! Distance will be crucial to survival.
What worried Ali the most was the consequences of the accompanying shockwave. His research had shown that, no matter the yield, the pressure flow generated by the deposition of such a large amount of energy would be tremendously destructive.
And this one would be travelling across water!
However, he’d had an idea how to moderate the danger if anything went wrong and they were caught out in the open.
The motor launch had a top speed of forty knots. It was also equipped with the latest vacuum-seal hatchways and self righting mechanisms. If he could put enough distance—and intervening shipping—between them and the initial blast, he was confident they wouldn’t capsize or suffer from the effects of fallout. They’d also be close enough to land to break out the life rafts if needs be. And once ashore, their waiting fleet of vehicles would whisk them away from the scene of a terrible crime and on to the safety of their own homes.
Home! God, that feels so far away at the moment.
Reaching the top deck, Ali’s line of thought was interrupted. Too many of his men were milling about in confusion. His commanding voice soon gave them a sense of much needed focus. “What are you waiting for? Go! Go! Go! Get out of here. Just jump over the side.”
His men didn’t need telling twice.
Slinging their weapons, they raced for the railings. Pausing to check the whereabouts of their own craft, they adjusted their grips and vaulted.
Coming to a halt himself, Ali raised his radio. There’s no need for Sylvester to hang around when he’s in a more vulnerable skiff. I’ll send him on his way and we can meet up back in our own territorial waters.
Depressing the switch, he was just about to talk when a high-pitched whine drowned out any chance to speak. The sound cut through the still of the night like a knife. Yanking the earpiece away from his head, his blood ran cold. Was that a microwave burst?
Ali wasn’t about to stand around and find out. Stepping up onto the railing, he leaped forward. . .
Down in the hold, the digital displays on the one kiloton bombs stuttered to a standstill at fifty-four minutes and six seconds. The timer went dead as the inner workings of the CPU adjusted to a fresh set of commands just received from an orbiting satellite.
When they blinked back on, the readout flashed once, the numerals reappeared, and the countdown resumed . . . only this time, the numbers tumbled in a maniacal freefall.
Two seconds later, they reached zero.
. . .Back topside, Ali couldn’t understand why he was still sailing through the air. Shouldn’t I have hit the sea by now?
His world turned white and rushed beyond his ability to comprehend.
Then blackness took him.
*
From her position in high orbit, Angelika was hoping to have seen more of an imposing light-bloom from the Gulf of Aden. That side of the Earth was still hours away from dawn, so it should have been dark enough to see the blinding intensity of the thermonuclear exhalation in all its rampant glory. Hmmm, what an anticlimax! Not like it is on the TV at all. . .
. . .Mind you, it doesn’t have to be a Hollywood spectacular. The ton of plutonium powder we scattered through the deck lining will contaminate enough of the Red and Arabian Seas to ensure the Strait remains closed to shipping for quite a while. Somehow, I can’t see them making their daily quota of three billion barrels of oil tomorrow!
Musing she might be, but Angelika was still intent on her mission. Part of her subconscious scanned the horizon continually for any sign of the cloaked and shielded Guardian Observation Stations she knew patrolled these environs. I wonder how long it will take them to react? Best I wasn’t here to find out!
She teleported to a second, Council controlled firing platform—this one situated over North America—and counted slowly to ten in her head. Then she initiated another set of microwave bursts aimed at multiple sites across the Los Angeles basin.
Angelika held her breath a studied the topography of the region carefully, wondering what telltale signs she might spot first.
Esther had told her that the half gram of antimatter incorporated into each of the three collars around the seismic charges contained the equivalent power of two Hiroshima bombs. That energy—combined with the amplification provided by the psitronic crystal shavings—was bound to be spectacular.
This time, she wasn’t disappointed.
From her position high above, it looked as if a handful of invisible gravel had been cast into a cityscape pond, with Downtown Los Angeles at its center. A rabid throng of closely packed ripples radiated inward, through the Earth’s crust, to form an inverted U-shaped distortion. Those shockwaves condensed, massing together until everything went suddenly still. Then they exploded outward again at an even more frenzied rate.
As the surge dissipated, the strata at eight distinct points throughout the region started bulging upward. Protruding higher and higher into the heavens, each prominence continued swelling until a gigantic bubble had formed. Glowing yellow hot at their cores, they lifted millions of tons of rock and soil with them. Angelika was reminded of an image she’d once seen in which a demon worked to inflate the bellows of Hades, inundating the damned in fire and brimstone. Something the unsuspecting populace was about to experience for real.
But not quite yet!
Amazingly, the inner furnaces to each bubble winked out at the same moment. To Angelika, it seemed as if someone had flicked a light switch off . . . only to flick it back on again an instant later.
And when they did. . .
Even though she was three hundred miles up, Angelika was forced to shield her eyes as a silver-white brilliance ripped its way through the surface tension governing each blazing globule. That brilliance vaporized water, earth and rock alike; ignited subsurface gasses, and bathed the entire west coast in the purifying glare of a false sunrise.
Now that was impressive!
Preparing herself for a hasty departure, Angelika risked one final peek. She sighed with deep satisfaction as an enormous horseshoe-shaped ring of land began to sag alarmingly. As it did so, a huge deformation bucked the natural flow of the waves only twenty miles out into the Pacific Ocean. Extending past Malibu in the north and down to Oceanside in the south, it created the impression that a giant baby had just thrown a tantrum and slapped the flat of its hand into the sea.
The result? A rising cliff of cobalt blue potential.
Glancing at her watch, Angelika checked the time. Ah, it’s a little early, but never mind. The whole basin is coming apart. Excellent! I’d better get out of here. . .
. . .Hmmm, I wonder how things are going for the others?
*
Naomi Cruz approached the threshold between existence and oblivion. The nearer she got, the more the causational probability nodes governing universal stability quivered, strumming in the manner of strings on a celestial harp.
Reduced temporarily to the sidelines, her Shepherd and Supporter watched with bated breath, eager with an anticipation laced with concern that the ordeal would—at last—be entering its final phase.
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But still Naomi delayed.
Already expanded beyond the constraints of human mortality, she wished to understand her emerging level of existence with a clarity that defied reason. Therefore, she lingered still. Tasting, sampling, savoring, and devouring. Analyzing a core essence that still only hinted at the sovereignty hidden within. And was rewarded. . .
. . .New experiences—as old as creation—rediscovered from the dawn of time. Neither this way nor that, for myriad panoramas are presented all at once in a cavalcade of variegated splendor.
I see! She gasps, fascinated by what now lay open to scrutiny.
And there, at the edge of reason . . . the whispers linger.
Howling like demons in the silence of the night, they guide her, indicating the path to absolution if only she could find the courage to take that first step.
She does so, and fires scorch the hearth of her doubt with bitter frigidity.
Come and be cleansed! They exclaim: Purge your newly grown mind free of the insubstantial and impotent to discover the solidity of purpose to be savored in a single thought.
She takes another hesitant pace forward.
A crystal is grasped.
Unprecedented! The watchers chorus.
Why is my life of consequence as ephemeral as smoke in the wind?
How could I have missed the liquescence of the cosmic all as it flows between all and nothing—nothing—nothing . . .?
Adjusting to a more expansive scope, Naomi began to see how galaxies forded the interstellar currents in graceful, rhythmic patterns too vast to assimilate in one go. Myriad heartbeats joined at every level, pulsing in ecstasy. They spanned the universe; some here, some there; some near, and some so very, very far away.
Others observed her ascension. They are powerful and so different to the natural order of this sphere. And yet, they ring with intimate familiarity. Why? Where are these entities from?
We are here to assist. They call: Free from petrifaction, we respond . . . as we should have all those eons ago.
Naomi’s heart fluttered. If I could only remember who they are. . .
. . .Are these even my memories?
Answers abounded, hidden in plain sight within multifaceted simplicity.
Look there and learn!
The soaring majesty contained within the nucleus of a dying atom; the awesome clarity revealed by an aberration of physics. Black as darkest night, it swallowed all within its field of gravity, yet creates as it destroys; the expansive cycle of all or nothing.
And there, at the beginning and end of it all, the intricacies of the Maestro Supreme stand revealed in exquisite detail.
Look closer!
Creation sings. The bass tenor of its refrain glittered like stars through the fabric of existence, a lullaby to those ears able to discern it.
Dust motes dance to a never-ending waltz, their steps unfathomable to all but the few who still hold back . . . afraid to take to the floor for fear of failure or rejection.
A zillion choices splinter within the convexity of a crystalline lattice.
I have but one. . .
. . .Do—or do not!
The bittersweet taste of humanity gained and lost as the decision to proceed is finally taken.
I do! Cognizance recognized.
What other way is there, but to advance?
A psychic barrier pierced; an overwhelming surge of release; an explosion of awareness; neural pathways, so freshly sensitized, energize in a flaring nebula of sights, sounds and sensations.
Supercharging, the metamorphosis takes on a life of its own. I swell. I grow. I change and become what I was destined to be. Who I was destined to be! I grasp and take hold of hypothetical realities.
Noises now have taste. Taste gives off color. Those colors blend together into a bouquet of fragrances, fragrances that ring with a solidarity of purpose. Compartmentalized reason intertwines and binds to the elasticity of a thousand outcomes.
Oblique transparency resounds with limitless knowledge.
Do you hear?
A single tone pierces the silence and she beholds the moment of creation. Its power, its majesty, encapsulated within a subatomic particle. Each is a universe in its own right. Carried on solar winds, the seeds disperse, spreading knowledge and the essence of life. A symphony of titanic bliss, they also conceal the truth from those too proud to search for it. . .
. . .And I am but a single note in the eternal score.
My dazzling mind is now super-energized, far, far beyond that which I thought possible. To a place where the very superficies of actuality extend further invitations.
Naomi shuddered as her expanding neural pathways diversified again.
Time shifted. See? I now exist here and there. Elsewhere and everywhere. Pulsing with a psychoenergetic concordance that spans the unknown.
The flesh that shackles her is cast off. I soar at last, reaching out as I was meant to do. I shine and magnify into my true state. The crystal before me is but an artifact. A tool and conduit through which my will reigns supreme!
NAOMI?
Other minds are quick to express concern.
One is lesser, yet wise. The other is a paradox of humility and greatness, encompassing a level of efficacy as yet undetermined!
Naomi, are you there? They call in union, the blending a masterpiece of harmonic transition. Although redundant, they offer valuable instruction: Remember we are here. We know you still comprehend your identity. Do not succumb to oblivion.
Oblivion? But I soar, godlike among lesser. . .
A part of her fought against that whim. NO! I MUST NEVER THINK THAT WAY!
. . .Among less evolved beings. Those who have yet to take the step.
A valid state of symmetry is acknowledged.
Accepting it, the aspirant comprehends there are many options open to her. I see more! Much more! And they all call to me, beckoning as they tease. An enticing vastness, blinding in its brilliance. . .
. . .and so intoxicating!
COME!
They would lure me away if I let them.
COME, LOSE YOURSELF!
The gravity of their determination . . . is. . .
BE WITH US!
Yet I must decline.
YOUR LOSS WILL BE PROFOUND—FOUND—FOUND. . .
Somehow, Naomi anchored her will on the side of prudence: Who are you, really that urges me so? Why do you seek such haste when I understand my place in the grand scheme of things? Balance must be recognized. Striven for and earned.
The meaning behind the multitudinal crystalline possibility lattices before Naomi suddenly made sense. As she accepted their clarity, the crushing weight of responsibility descended upon her ethereal shoulders. I am to be a guide for those who need to grow and understand their place in the temporal scheme of things.
Relief flooded the ether.
I pass the test and remain . . . Naomi. But I see . . . I see sooo many things all at once.
An amber note rang out, a minim, pure and resolute:
In answer, a hyper-gate activates and an ancient enemy once thought contained appears. Warping the fabric of space and time, he mind-shouts one word: NOW!
The Creator of All observes from above/elsewhere/everywhere. Naomi’s arrival is noticed and incomprehensible joy blossoms throughout the Higher Ether.
The Father of us here watches from afar. His delight at the fruition of long held plans is also evident.
He calls in welcome: So, here you are at last, little mind sister! You are a treasure to behold. Don’t forget, I’ll soon be very different to what I am now. But don’t worry. I’ll be keeping an eye on things in a different way.
Different way?
You’ll see. All you need to do now is allow your own sense of right and wrong to guide you. You will be a beacon in the dark, and a harbor from the storms to come—come—come. . .
The vastness of his intellect receded, abruptly intent upon another purpose.
Others intruded. Naomi?
Reality flexed as a rarified mind adjusted into a superior level of understanding.
Victoria?
The presence morphed into an ethereal duality: Yes, it’s me. You do realize. . .?
WAIT!
Though distracted, Naomi’s grasp of a thousand simultaneous happenings crashed upon the shores of her expanded awareness. Consequence and subsequence clarified within a whirling nub of lucidity.
Another tone of equal measure and length thrummed in the ether:
I see . . . No! I hear elusive signals, covertly sent. They herald an impending doom!
The staggering potential within two simple atoms is suddenly exposed in horrific glory. The unlimited scope of their originator is revealed by the staggering might unleashed at their destruction. Splitting, they throw back the night, and a sea boils.
Almost instantly, the scrutiny of higher minds—some enhanced by incredibly sophisticated technology—washes over the scene of devastation. Familiar alarms are activated. Those sworn to protect and serve, responded with haste.
As they do so, multiple scenarios play out to their conclusion in her mind. Observing those outcomes, the most suitable resolution presents itself.
Contemplating such a course is dangerous—dangerous—dangerous. . .
Turning her attention toward the crystal, Naomi accessed a course never before attempted by one still emerging.
Yet how could I not try!
Realizing what was being contemplated, the Shepherd expressed her doubts: Naomi, what are you thinking?
Ignoring her, Naomi chose to proceed.
Meshing her will to an obverse plane of the crystal, Naomi’s intent became dominant. Concentrating, she sent a surge of ultra-magnified psitronic energy toward the Earth and Observation Station 5. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit above the Sudan, the facility was only just dispatching an Alpha Response Team to the Gulf of Aden.
HOLD! She called, confident in her certainty.
Despite the muting presence of the lunar rocks, they heard.
DIVERT OUR RESOURCES TO THE SURVIVING CASUALTIES IN THE GULF. I WILL HANDLE THE FALLOUT AND SUPPRESS THE TIDAL WAVES.
Altering the fabric of her corpus once more, Naomi brought two more lattices of the crystal to bear.
Indescribable pain lanced through her sensibilities, almost shattering her sanity. No! I must remain in control. . .
Easier said than done, for it felt as if her mind was rupturing, expanding too far, too swiftly into dimensions that did not concern her . . . yet! Goddamit! I’m coming apart. But I can’t stop now. I must . . . I must. . .
I am here Naomi!
An older, wiser and stronger presence suddenly manifested beside her.
Victoria reined back the urgency of her hail: Have conviction! You are new. The crystal is capable of fracturing reality and draining you to the point of nullity. Until you’ve gained a degree of expertise, be more cautious. . .
. . .Let me help you . . . Thus!
Together they combined, and bent the warped eso-physics of the gem to their will.
A binary rainbow shimmered down onto the Gulf of Aden. Flickering across the expanding doughnut shaped wave front, it lingered for a second or two as it blended to the harmonic amplitude of the charging water. Then the frequency altered.
For all its potential, the tsunami dropped impotently into the sea, like a vast wall of ice breaking free of its parent shelf.
Glittering flakes appeared, high in the atmosphere. Washing through the area, they saturated clouds and air alike with a sparkling radiance. Crystalline implosions resounded in one place after another as that radiance burst into inflammable flames, consuming the irradiated particles as they went. In the blink of an eye, all that was left was a fine residue of pearlescent ash. Those flakes fell into the waters, disappeared in puffs of smoke, leaving no trace of the invisible pall of death that would have rained its lethal mixture onto a helpless populace.
Incredibly, all this is accomplished in less than nine seconds!
A surge of pride coursed through Naomi’s complexus, echoed by a chorus of “well dones” from elsewhere.
Then Naomi discerned an even more pressing danger!
A deeper, more resonant golden ambiance reverberated through her soul:
The fidelity of the timeline staggers as eight colossal blasts tear at the very foundation of space and time on the opposite side of the planet. Matter is annihilated, ceasing to exist, as an unbelievably enormous quantity of energy is unleashed.
Augmented hyper-senses zoom in to investigate.
Stunned, Naomi watches as ultra-amplified waves of seismic devastation radiate outward from the Los Angeles region. Huge voids appear beneath the mantle. The two contending crustal plates recoil as a catastrophic paroxysm runs riot. Unable to withstand the unprecedented loss of trillions of cubic tons of supporting strata, hills, valleys and plains collapse. Some deflate into the voids, while others succumb to the inrushing sea. Given its head, tectonic tension—held in abeyance for decades—snaps free in a meteoric retort.
Islands, shoreline, and mountains far and wide tremble on the brink of ruin.
NO!
Coming back to herself for a moment, Naomi cast Victoria free, and then braced herself against the deluge of a million different bytes of data storming against her super-energized, hyper-cognitive perceptions.
Enhanced beyond imagination, Naomi used the psitronic totem to guide her as she compressed that information overload into a constructive, useable tool.
In less than a nanosecond, Naomi had compartmentalized every facet of the unfolding drama, and accurately assessed the impact this apocalypse would cause:
The spine of the Los Angeles district had been shattered. A huge chunk of the North American continent was now crushing down on it. The entire volume of the nine and a half thousand mile wide Pacific Ocean rushed to take advantage of the imbalance.
Desolation on an unprecedented scale was about to unfold.
Unless I do something about it . . . no matter the cost!
Comprehension of the deficit in Guardian resources came to her in an instant. As did a congregation of viable solutions.
One was selected.
Naomi’s flexing consciousness snaked even closer to survey the west coast of the United States from top to bottom, confirming what needed to be done.
From this distance, it would be an immense task.
It would require her full attention and the combined efforts of her Shepherd, her Supporter, and the very special assets only available to her devoted family. . .
Inevitably, it would also necessitate the employment of the crystal itself. From here, within the arcane dampening field of a chamber designed to prevent the very thing she was contemplating. And that was what would cost her the most!
Accepting the enormity of the repercussions, Naomi stepped into the crystal!