Connexion : The Atlantis Project, Book.1 (12 page)

16 THE OLD MAN

A few seconds later he caught sight of the
exit at last. Back in the kitchen, a very elderly gentleman,
looking quite elegant, although slightly out of place, was sitting
where Charlie had been seated earlier. The old man was busily
drinking a cup of tea, which smelt tantalizingly of bergamot.
Charlie enjoyed tea very much, and his mad run had left him
thirsty.

“Hello, Charlie. Please, sit down. You must
be rather tired after all these adventures, aren’t you?”

“You know my name?”

“Of course! How could I not?”

His face and hair were of a very pale gray,
which contrasted sharply with his deep black eyes. He was dressed
like an English lord and his clothes failed to completely disguise
the thinness of his emaciated limbs. Charlie moved toward him
slightly hesitantly and took a seat opposite him where a chair and
a cup awaited him.

“Unless I’m mistaken, you are rather keen on
bergamot. Did you know that its calming qualities have been known
and used since the dawn of the age? It’s also a powerful mutagenic
agent, but don’t worry, this tea will not harm you.”

“Well, actually, I did know it was a
relaxant. In fact, that’s why I enjoy it’s subtle but powerful
flavor. Smells sometimes have surprising effects on our emotional
state. But as for its mutagenic properties, I must say that I was
unaware of them, Mr…? By the way, who do I have the honor of
speaking to?”

As he said the words, Charlie could not help
wondering if he himself was the author of this surprising
statement, which he didn’t think he had known previously. Was this
the fruit of his fertile and inventive imagination again, or was
something new really taking place?

“You know already! You are the one who came
here to meet me, aren’t you? So why ask me the question?”

“Victor?” replied Charlie, his voice
trembling.

“Relax, my boy! We have plenty of time for
getting to know one another. Oh! I also have some biscuits. I think
these are your favorite kind. At least, it’s a memory that often
comes back to you.”

Charlie helped himself from the tin that
Victor proffered him. His hand shook and a vague anxiety was slowly
taking hold of his whole body.

“Can you read my thoughts?”

“But of course I can! We are connected to
each other, remember? You should know that better than I.”

“That’s odd, because you seem to be perfectly
in control of the whole business, whereas I have been totally
confused ever since I entered your mind. About that: do you resent
the fact that I have intruded here without asking your opinion? You
know, to be honest, no one really asked mine either.”

“Yes, I thought as much. Actually, that is
why you can see me here, sitting opposite you. Your colleagues, who
attempted to intrude here before you, did not have that
opportunity.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, I’m no criminal, but let’s just say that
I let them lose themselves in the meanderings of their own minds –
just as I have done with you until now.”

“You mean that all I’ve seen so far came from
my own mind; my own memories?”

“Practically, yes. Apart from a few
details.”

“What proof do I have that what you’re
telling me isn’t another product of my own mind? After all, my
brother could very well be having some tea back there, and I could
just be imagining that I’m doing the same with you. It already
happened once, when I thought I was having a bowl of soup in this
very kitchen. As you pointed out earlier, smells sometimes have a
surprising effect on our emotions, so why not on our dreams?”

“But you’re not dreaming, Charlie. No more
than you are in a dream of mine.”

“And yet, that’s what I was told would
happen. I was to stay in your dreams and access some of your
memories in order to know you better.”

“I should ask you why you seek to know me and
how you managed to find this secret hibernation base. But you see,
I know almost everything already, thanks to the information you and
your colleagues have served me on a platter in coming here. Your
little human brains are like a great open book to me. I can dip
into a great variety of memories at my leisure and eventually build
myself quite a clear picture of who you are and what you have been
through.”

“In that case, you know Jacques, I
suppose.”

“Your brother.”

Now, more than ever, Charlie felt trapped in
a world where the absolute dictator was this being who had nothing
human about him apart from his appearance and whose intentions were
at the very least unclear. Just who was he, and what did he expect
of Charlie, now that he already knew everything about him without
even needing to ask? He was beginning to think Francisco and his
team had been well and truly mistaken in sending him here. He would
probably emerge from the experience – if he managed to escape – as
a meager sponge, which has been squeezed dry of its last drop,
without a single trace of what he had been through in this pool of
neurons, just like those who had tried before him.”

“What do you want from me?” he asked, after a
brief silence.

The old man hesitated a moment, swallowing a
last mouthful of tea, then he looked up and replied calmly.

“I need you, Charlie. You have to help
me.”

“How can I?”

“We will see each other again in time, but
for now I think it’s time for you to continue your journey. In the
next room there are three red doors. One of them is partially open.
You will be the first to enter. I hope I’m not wrong about you. I
have faith you.”

Charlie got up and shot a last glance at the
old man; a look that betrayed his apprehension.

“Don’t worry, Charlie. You’re not alone
anymore.”

17 THE CITY

There were clouds in the sky that day.
Charlie was lying on the grass, enjoying the first rays of spring
sunshine that warmed his skin, although the light breeze was still
a little cool for the season. He had just opened his eyes, no doubt
emerging from one of those long, refreshing naps he enjoyed so
much. His arms were crossed behind his head, and his back cushioned
by the grassy carpet as he enjoyed watching the clouds moving along
as he lay still; they travelled slowly, leaving here and there the
occasional patch of blue sky.

As he turned his head slightly to follow a
small flock of birds flying by, his eyes stopped short in their
trajectory and widened with fear. His arm looked huge; it was also
pale gray, extraordinarily muscled and slightly shiny. Terrified,
he leaped to his feet and looked all around him, searching for
something familiar. Everything – absolutely all that he could see –
was foreign to him, beginning with his own body. It occurred to him
that he was still inside Victor’s mind. He had just taken up
residence inside this gigantic body, lost in the middle of a world
he knew absolutely nothing about. He then remembered the old man’s
last words, before he went through the door that was to give him
access to one of Victor’s memories. Whatever happened, he was not
alone, and most importantly of all, he had to place himself in the
position of an observer of this new type of spectacle. What was
about to happen must have already been written. Logically, his
presence should not change anything in the course of ancient events
that were deeply rooted in Victor’s memory. At least, so he thought
at that point in time.

A few meters away, Charlie could see two
giants, deep in conversation, who were coming toward him. The
clothing they wore was made of a strange material. It was more like
a sort of supple, metallic veil that was perfectly adapted to the
shape of their bodies, than actual clothes. Through this light,
finely woven veil, he could see gray skin, like Victor’s. They did
not seem to notice his presence, but that did not prevent him from
experiencing rising apprehension. He began to look around for a
possible escape route. Just then he noticed at his feet a small
rodent, of a kind unknown to him, but which looked vaguely similar
to a mouse. Its skin seemed to be covered with thick, greenish
leather, with no fur to speak of. The animal turned its little
black eyes in his direction, obviously trying to capture his
attention.

“Don’t move!” it said in a small voice. “They
can’t see you. Remember that you’re here as an outside observer.
Try to interfere as little as possible with what you are here to
see.”

Charlie did not have time to answer. The
rodent had already disappeared into a little burrow, dug in the
thick lawn carpeting the ground.

The two giants were now less than a meter
away. Charlie’s heart began to beat rapidly but he contained
himself and remained perfectly still. Oddly, their language seemed
familiar to him, so familiar that he understood all that was being
said without making the slightest effort. It was not his native
language, however, or even a language he had heard before.

One of them was slightly smaller and seemed
older than the other. Apart from that, they were very alike. Their
faces were similar in every way to that of a man. Only their thick
skin and gigantic size differentiated them from the human race.
They were soon so close that Charlie could feel the air shifting
with their movements. He noticed then that the air was suddenly
hotter, as if their bodies or clothing gave off a large amount of
heat, much more than that of a man. The situation was all the more
incongruous as he was completely naked, standing only a few
centimeters from them. But already the pressure was lifting: the
two giants were slowly moving away, continuing their conversation
as they went. Relieved, Charlie realized that what the rodent had
said was true. This made him think of the episode in the tunnel.
There, too, he had encountered a mysterious mouse. What it had told
him then had restored his confidence and gotten him back on
track.

Who was that mouse? Was it the result of an
outside influence or simply a figment of his imagination; the
materialization of a part of his own consciousness; some sort of
unforeseen intuition that would impress itself upon him? Many such
questions were hanging over him and Charlie knew that he would
undoubtedly have to find answers to them one day. But for now, he
needed to follow his instinct and take the advice he had received
once again in an unexpected manner.

He decided to follow the two men, keeping a
reasonable distance behind them. To start with, he walked about two
meters behind, trying as best he could to listen to their
conversation, but although he was effectively invisible to their
eyes; he had the impression that they could hear the sound of his
steps on the gravel path. Several times, the elder one turned
around, looking surprised and suspicious. Seeing nothing unusual,
he carried on his way. Charlie decided prudently to hang back
further and walk as quietly as possible on the grass beside the
path, rather than on the fine gravel which had nearly given him
away a few seconds earlier.

“The Council has expressed doubt as to the
completion date of the third and last settlement vessel. They have
said that if the delay is confirmed, it will undoubtedly be
impossible for them to guarantee a place on board for
everyone.”

“What will happen to those with no
place?”

“From what I understand, the technicians are
currently fitting out ancient sub-marine caverns in the region
around Xantra. The most optimistic predictions say that all regions
above sea-level will be destroyed by the impact. They think that
these caverns could serve as survival shelters for all those who
will not be able to leave in time.”

“What guarantee do we have that these caves
will withstand such a deluge of fire?”

“Their exact location is being kept secret
for now, but it would seem that they are deeply buried under
hundreds of meters of rock and water. According to the experts,
that should be enough to protect them from the impact, but my
brother, who works on one of the bases, told me that they don’t yet
know how they will go about retrieving the survivors. If there are
any!”

“How could they retrieve them? They’d have to
wait an eternity. According to the specialists, the planet will be
turned into a veritable furnace for decades. Then there will be
dust, toxic gases and polar temperatures for centuries. Any attempt
to save them would be impossible for a very long time.”

“My brother told me about new hibernation
technology, which is much more sophisticated than what we use on
board our vessels. It could pave the way for a type of unlimited
artificial sleep, during which vital functions and all the body’s
cells are preserved.”

“I thought that hibernation could not exceed
fifty years with the current technology.”

“I thought so too, but according to him, this
new technology they are about to implement could change things. If
it works, it could be possible to retrieve the survivors hundreds
or even thousands of years after the beginning of their
hibernation.”

“How will we know if they’ve survived the
cataclysm or if the hibernation process hasn’t killed them?”

“The bases will be equipped with very low
frequency electromagnetic transponders. Their far-reaching
electromagnetic waves will provide very precise information about
the physiological state of the survivors. Thousands of fully
autonomous mini weather stations have also been placed all over the
planet. They are all linked to transponders which will transmit
data to the different hibernation bases. They already know that
most of these weather stations will be destroyed directly or
indirectly as a result of the impact, but some of them should last.
At least, that’s what we have to hope.”

“It seems to me that we are regrettably
preparing to abandon a whole section of our population to almost
certain death. This all sounds like a huge deception that is meant
to make the pill easier to swallow for those who will be
sacrificed, and make the others feel less guilty.”