Emerald Sky (23 page)

He swung again, but the same result
occurred. Refusing to give up, he moved closer and attempted shorter, faster
blows to the body of his opponent. With each one the result was the same. The
tulpa danced between the path of his fists, creating an impossible and
infuriating target. If he was going to break down its defences, he needed to up
his game considerably.

The corridor was narrow and its stone
walls within touching distance. In one fluid movement he spun and used his
right foot to spring off of the adjacent wall and bring himself around three
hundred and sixty degrees, directing an aerial kick at the tulpa’s face. The
tulpa ducked under its trajectory as calmly as if it was crouching beneath a
low hanging door frame.

When Esteban landed, he had to take a
moment to catch his breath. He was yet to fully acclimatise to the thin mountain
air and he had put all his energy into the kick. Rather than allowing him to
carry on and risk injuring himself, the tulpa realigned its form to that of the
scientist controlling it.

‘Don’t take it as a reflection on your
ability,’ she told him. ‘It’s a reflex. I could dodge you all day and not even
break into a sweat. Hell, I could probably dodge a bullet if I put my mind to
it.’

Esteban had been wearing his pistol on
his belt since the dog attack and he also had an idea, as dangerous as that
idea may be. He thought back to how he had captured another individual
seemingly capable of dodging bullets. With Jimmy, all it had taken was the
right distraction.

A little further down the hall was a
small table with a vase of flowers resting on it. He coolly took a step back
and then quickly spun on his heels, scooping up the vase and launching it at
Emmy’s tulpa in one fluid movement. As she instinctively extended her arms to
catch the projectile, he put a bullet into her chest.

This time the reflex was entirely
different to what had gone before. The vase fell to ground, smashing into a hundred
pieces. Emmy froze and looked at Esteban in stunned horror. A delicate wisp of
smoke from the nuzzle of his weapon hung in the air. He had shot her. Betrayal
was written in her eyes.

‘I’m sorry,’ said Esteban. ‘I assumed it
could not harm you. You’re not hurt, are you?’

She was not sure. She felt no pain, but
she did feel something. Something more than simply shock. The space where her
heart would be on her living body, felt tight, as if it was being squeezed. She
looked down, not sure what to expect.

In tulpa form she was able to discern her
surrounds with far greater clarity than with a purely astral view, but she
could still see through matter as if the world around her was composed of one
large three dimensional x-ray.

The bullet was inside her.

Without even questioning if it was even a
possibility, she reached in and plucked it from her being. She then looked back
to the soldier. When he saw that she was unharmed he relaxed.

‘I guess that answers that question,’ he
said.

‘Yes,’ she replied. ‘This answers a lot
of questions. Like Jimmy before me, I can finally see my purpose. In this form
I am indestructible. I am a...’

Before completing the sentence her
expression changed. Esteban could see dread spread across her features and then
she vanished into nothingness.

‘Emmy!’ he cried out, re-holstering his
gun and running to her room.

When he got there, she was sat on the bed
with her back in the corner and her knees pulled up to her chin in a protective
ball.

‘Are you okay?’ he asked.

She nodded.

What about the tulpa – where did it go
and can you still project?’

‘Yes,’ she replied, this time finding the
words. ‘The tulpa is fine. Like I said – it’s virtually indestructible.’

‘So what’s wrong? - you look terrible.’

She closed her eyes, facing the awful
realisation one more time before pushing it to the recesses of her mind. Once
she felt like she was back in control, she looked to the soldier.

‘Back then, just before I let go. I was
about to say that I was a Goddess. Then it hit me. That’s exactly how he
thought of himself in the end. Well, not as a Goddess so much, but the
masculine equivalent. This is too much power. I don’t want it. I’m not Jimmy.
He’s an innocent, incapable of doing harm. I’m different. No matter what
intentions I have, this kind of power will never fully be under my control.
I’ve made mistakes in the past because I let my emotions rule me. It’s only a
matter of time before the tulpa and its promises of immortality turn me into
the very thing I despise.’

Esteban sat down on the corner of the
bed. He looked deep into her eyes. So deep that he could see himself reflected
back in her pupils.

‘I don’t believe that,’ he said. ‘You’re
a good person. Earlier you told me that you thought your grandfather spared
Charlie for a reason. Perhaps you gaining these powers from him was also no
accident. Maybe he transferred something to you on purpose.’

She shook her head.

‘His final act on this earth was to try
and kill me. By that point, all of the good in him had been completely
eradicated by the poisonous radiation I created.’

‘Not all our actions are intentional,’
said Esteban. ‘Surely you of all people understand this. Take your friend,
Charlie. At this moment you are enemies, yet you sent Lucy to him. You didn’t
even know you were doing it.’

She wanted to believe Esteban. She really
did. In her heart though, she could not. Jimmy had previously told her that he
did not expect to survive the mission. It now seemed likely that her fate would
be the same. If she had to choose between dying and becoming an instrument of
mass destruction, she would choose death every time.

‘I can only do this if you promise me one
thing,’ she said. ‘Promise me you will not let me become what my grandfather
became. If this power begins to control me – I need to know you’ll stop it, no
matter what that entails.’

He held her gaze for an extended moment.
She was not bluffing.

‘Just so we’re clear; you’re asking me to
kill you – is that right?’

‘Yes,’ she replied, ‘but only if there’s
no alternative.’

‘Of course,’ he said. ‘I’ve never killed
anybody without it being absolutely necessary, so why start now?’

Chapter 37

Such was the insanity of the general’s
plan that Charlie actually longed for the solitude of his cell. Having
witnessed firsthand the extent of Jackson Fox’s trail of destruction, the
scientist could not begin to contemplate what kind of damage these nine
imitators could do. The worst part was that unlike his old mentor, this new
batch of radiation infected supermen were not crazy. The stabilising property
of Jimmy’s blood was shielding them from the horrors inflicted on his
townsfolk.

‘You do not understand the danger in
meddling with these powers,’ he told the general. ‘Do you really expect these
men to obey you when they realise what they are capable of? They will destroy
everything that either of us has ever cared about.’

‘You could not be more wrong,’ the
general replied. ‘These men are going to protect both of our interests. That
is, of course, if you still care about your ancestral homeland.’

Charlie felt a sickly feeling in the pit
of his stomach. He was expecting more bad news, but now the general’s tone had
taken on a much more sinister flavour. There was finality to his words that
could only pre-empt an atrocity of world changing magnitude.

‘Exactly what are you planning?’ he
asked.

The general looked at the younger man.
Perceiving no threat, he saw no reason not to divulge his plans. In less than twenty
four hours they would become known to the whole world anyway.

‘Major Heng, if you please.’

The general’s number two officer picked
up a tablet computer and used it to bring up a world map on a large screen that
dominated the control centre. It consisted of a basic outline with only the
largest national borders showing. There were eight bright red dots spread
sporadically around the globe. Charlie did not need identifiers to know what
locations these represented. Half were on the US mainland and the others were
made up of Tokyo, London, Jerusalem and Seoul.

‘You’re crazy,’ said Charlie. ‘Whatever
you are planning can only end in war. Sending your radioactive super soldiers
into these territories is an act of suicide.’

‘Exactly,’ replied the general.

The response was unexpected and only
served to worry Charlie even more. He suspected the full picture was yet to be
revealed.

‘What about number nine?’ he asked,
dreading what the answer may be.

The general smiled.

‘Surely that is obvious,’ he replied.
‘You’re the scientist - I’d be surprised if you cannot figure it out. This
technology you provided us with is still relatively new. We have to be sure
that it works.’

Charlie figured it out.

‘You need a trial run – but where?’

The general once more nodded to his
number two. Major Heng ran his fingers over his handheld device and another red
dot appeared on the map. It was the last place where Charlie had expected it to
be.

‘That’s here. That’s the exact location
of this base – I don’t understand.’

‘That is because your thinking is too
narrow. Look more closely. It is not the exact location of this base. It is
actually a few miles west of here.’

As realisation dawned, Charlie finally
lost all hope.

‘That’s where Emmy is,’ he said. ‘This
time you are going to kill her.’

‘No,’ the general replied. ‘Not I. Well,
not personally, at least.’

He nodded once more to the major and this
time the tablet was used to open an automated chamber built into the side of
the command centre. A solitary man dressed in military uniform stepped out. This
soldier wore not the fatigues of battle, but the smart dress of ceremony. A
full complement of medals adorned his chest. Something was not right, however.
The man projected an air of pestilence. He was like an animated corpse, rotting
from the inside out.

‘Dr Nguyen, I would like you to meet,
Lieutenant Colonel Jing Fan, he is about to usher in a glorious new age for our
mighty People’s Republic.’

Then without warning, the man standing
before them vanished into thin air.

Just like the great Jackson Fox, he had
acquired the ability to teleport at will. And just like Jackson Fox, he
intended to do something terrible.

Chapter 38

Everyone was more relaxed with the tulpa no
longer around. Its absence allowed them to better focus on coming up with a
plan to shut down the Chinese and find a way home.

Using Emmy’s projected subconscious was
going to be extremely risky. It was unpredictable and difficult to control.
There was no way to reliably factor it into any strategy and Emmy was terrified
where it may lead her. Absolute power corrupts absolutely and past experience
had taught her that she was just as susceptible to giving in to her darker side
as anybody. Like Jimmy, she did not want her gift and if she made it out of the
mountains alive, her priority would be to find a cure.

Without the tools at her disposal to
scientifically explore her condition, she was left to approach it from a purely
philosophical angle. This led her back to the murals Yonten had shown her of
the ancient astral travellers and their tulpa. She hoped to find some sort of a
clue among the images in front of her. Anything that could explain her new
power. Without her noticing, Esteban had entered the chamber.

‘I was starting to worry about you,’ he
said, drawing her attention.

‘You mean you want to keep an eye on me,’
she replied. ‘Let me guess – you’re afraid I’m going to bring Lucy back and do
something stupid.’

‘No. I’m concerned that you’ve only had
one meal in the last forty eight hours. You need to keep your strength up.’
When she did not respond, he thought it prudent to try to lighten the mood, so
he added; ‘You are now eating for two, after all.’

His attempt at levity proved successful.
She turned to face him.

‘I’m not pregnant and implying that I
look it is not going to inspire a girl to eat, you know.’

‘So what does inspire you?’

She briefly looked away.

‘I’m sorry,’ he quickly added. ‘I didn’t
mean to...’

‘It’s okay – I understand. I’m just
finding it really difficult not to blame myself for everything that’s happened.
If I hadn’t been feeling so inspired to begin with, none of us would be here
now.’

‘Is that not your way? – scientists, I
mean. When progress comes about through trial and error the path to success is
paved with mistakes. It’s no different to my line of work. There is no freedom
without sacrifice.’

‘Is this supposed to be motivational?’

‘I don’t know. You can probably guess I’m
a man of action rather than words and science was never my strongest subject.’

Emmy laughed, through cynicism rather
than amusement.

‘I don’t think science has anything to do
with my current predicament. For the first time in my life, I’m at a complete
loss. Back in the lab we used to talk about souls and ghosts, but we never
actually believed any of it. Everything we discovered could be explained
rationally. The astral program was all based around technology. Even when it
all got out of hand with the radiation, it was still a consequence of the
technology – the science. But this?’ She swept her arm in front of the
pictograms. ‘This is nothing but magic and superstition. How can I put my trust
in something I don’t even believe in?’

‘Magic is just science we’re yet to
understand,’ said Esteban.

Emmy laughed once more and this time she
was amused.

‘Oh, please – I’ve heard that one before.
There’s a distinct line between technology and magic, believe me.’

‘Tell me,’ he began, ‘what has been the
most successful piece of technology created by man?’

‘I don’t know. It’s certainly not my
machine after all that’s happened. You’re going to try to convince me it’s
something counterintuitive, aren’t you – like gunpowder?’

‘Not at all. The answer is much more
elegant. Mankind’s greatest invention is the dog.’

She tilted her head, displaying her
scepticism.

‘Not all technology requires circuit
boards,’ Esteban hastily added. ‘Whether it is a Rottweiler or a poodle, the
dog is not something to have occurred naturally. We made them. They’re as
genetically modified as any piece of fruit you’d find on a supermarket shelf,
yet they came without a test-tube or Petri dish in sight.’

‘And your point is?’

‘Not all progress is made in a
laboratory. If something is possible – it is possible. If your machine can
bestow you with certain abilities then why can’t nature do the same? Jimmy got
his special power from exposure to radiation, but maybe it’s something that is
dormant in all of us and the radiation merely brought it out. What happened
between you and your grandfather that could have caused such a change in you?’

After a long pause, she replied; ‘he
killed me.’

***

The pain of dematerialisation caught Jing
Fan by surprise. His new body had been like a gift from the ancestors. It was
strong, healthy and so much more besides. Yet when he emerged from his
teleportation it felt weak and decrepit. It was almost as if he could feel his
life force being drained from every cell. Above all, he felt an insatiable
hunger. Not for nutritional nourishment, but for something stronger – he craved
pure energy. He knew that if this appetite was not sated, he would certainly
die.

The only intel he had on the monastery had
been gathered from a single astral pass. His masters were nervous of arousing
suspicion by detection and so they acted cautiously. There had not been time to
confirm the exact position of his targets, but he knew they would be near.

He knew what he needed to do.

Once he had visual confirmation of Emmy
Rayne, he was to execute his order and in doing so – her. First though, he
needed to deal with the crippling hunger.

He had materialised next to the stables.
No large livestock were being looked after as horses and oxen were unable to
scale the mountainside. Only indigenous mountain goats were capable of making
the cold and inhospitable trip to this perfectly isolated locale. It was not
ideal, but they would have to do. He approached the nearest animal and placed
his hand on the back of its neck.

As soon as his skin made contact with the
animal, he felt a connection with it. He could feel its breathing, but through
his own lungs. He could feel its heart beating in his own chest. Most of all,
he could feel its strength and he wanted that to be a part of him too, so he
took it. He absorbed the creature’s life energy and in doing so, replenished
his own. Once again, he felt strong. He felt invincible.

It was time.

***

Jimmy had been dozing in and out of sleep
all through the morning. It was the cold. He hated what it did to him. His skin
stung where it penetrated the gaps in his clothes. The only way to escape was
to curl into a tight ball and hope that sleep would spare him from its
discomfort. The monks just left him to it. Since the discovery of Lucy, they
were not so overwrought by his powers anymore.

Just as his eyelids were about to give
way and send him on another respite from his harsh frozen surrounds, a large
crash jolted him back to full alertness. It took a moment, but he soon deduced
the source of the interruption to be breaking glass. The dining hall was
overlooked by a large window, one of only a few in the monastery. He rose from
his seat and turned to see that it had been almost completely demolished.

One of the frequent snowstorms raged
outside, but that could not have been the cause. The way the remaining shards
of glass protruded out into the abyss could only mean that the window had been
destroyed from the inside. Something had been thrown through it. Esteban stood,
badly bruised and with a deep laceration above his right eye, looking out onto
the storm outside.

Jimmy ran to join his friend and
protector. When he got to the opening, he attempted to lean out to take a look,
but found that his forehead rebounded off the empty space in front of him. He
tilted his head to the left and saw himself standing opposite, signalling that
this was one of his frequent temporal overlaps. It was a vision and just as
unexpectedly as it had begun, it dissolved into nothingness.

The room was still and the window intact.
Outside, the weather was calm, but in the distance, he could see dark clouds
forming. A storm was on the way.

***

Esteban was relieved to see that Emmy was finally
coming out of her recent funk. He had also come to understand a great deal more
about the scientist. It now made sense to him why she had borne the demise of
her town’s residents on her shoulders. She had cheated death. Her fate had been
the same as theirs, yet somehow, she found a way back. She returned from the
edge of oblivion and in the process it made her stronger. It granted her
abilities that to many, would seem unnatural. Impossible even. Yet there she was.

‘Come on,’ he said. ‘Yonten has set aside
some food for us. I didn’t want to eat whilst you were going without, so I
waited.’

As they set off down the corridor, Jimmy
came running towards them from the opposite direction. When he stopped he was
out of breath and extremely agitated.

‘What’s wrong?’ asked Esteban.

‘Something’s happened – I mean,
something’s about to happen,’ replied Jimmy. ‘In the food hall. I think you’re gonna
have a fight.’

‘Do I win?’

Jimmy did not hesitate.

‘Yes.’

‘And Emmy?’

‘She wasn’t with you.’

‘In that case, get her out of here.’

There was a shout from around the corner
and then a monk was flung against the wall opposite. He hit the stones with
spine cracking ferocity and collapsed to the floor, where he immediately lost
consciousness. A moment later, the attacker was revealed to them. It was a
Chinese military officer. Though not exactly dressed for combat, the man’s
bulging physique could clearly be seen under the coarse fibres of his
ceremonial uniform. This was a big guy, but Esteban was unfazed. He had taken
down bigger.

‘I can help,’ said Jimmy.

‘Then help Emmy,’ replied Esteban. ‘The
dogs were a little beyond me, but this guy, I know I can take.’

‘But...’

‘Just go!’

Esteban hoped the attacker had not seen
Emmy. She was already beginning her escape when the monk had been knocked out
cold in front of them. At the very least, he could buy her enough time to make
it to the tunnels, but he did not think that would even be necessary. With the
stakes so high, ethics did not figure in the equation at all. Ever since the
first attack on the temple he had started to wear his sidearm at all times. He
withdrew his pistol and directed his aim at the throat of his foe.

‘You don’t need to understand English to
know what I want you to do,’ he said to the interloper. ‘Get on your knees, put
your hands in the air, or just do whatever it is that you people do to signal
your surrender.’

The Chinese man responded in his native
tongue. The words were indecipherable, but the tone was clear. He was not giving
up.

‘This is your last chance,’ said Esteban.

He steadied his aim. There was a gap of
at least ten metres separating the two men. He could empty an entire magazine
in the time it would take the other man to bridge that divide. Rather than
surrender or run, his foe calmly strode towards him.

‘Time’s up!’

He squeezed the trigger. The recoil
caught him by surprise as it was much stronger than normal. It was as if he had
fired a handheld cannon. Except that it was not the recoil at all. It was a
hand around his wrist, bending the trajectory of his bullet and sending it to
impact redundantly into a wall. The gun then fell from his grasp.

It was impossible for his foe to have
traversed the distance so quickly, but Esteban had no time to dwell on how the
paradox had been sidestepped. The man’s power was greater than anything he had
faced in combat before. He withdrew his wrist from the attacker’s hold with a
sharp tug, which almost felt like it would take his hand off. There was no more
strength left in that hand and to attempt to punch with it would do him more
damage than the person on the receiving end.

The Chinese man lunged at him, hoping to
get another hold, but this time Esteban was able to duck out of the way. He now
had the drop on his foe and was determined to take full advantage. He kicked
the other man in the gut and then spun low, sweeping his legs out from under
him. As the man fell, he did not so much hit the floor as fall right through
it. Esteban then felt a sharp blow between his shoulder blades.

He hit the deck face first. Instinct
alone was what kept him going. He rolled to the side just in time to avoid the
bottom of the other man’s boot. Determined not to give up, if only just to buy
Emmy more time, he sprung back to his feet.

The risk of damaging his right hand no
longer seemed an issue. He took a swing at his foe. It failed to connect, but
the follow-up with his left did. His opponent barely even flinched. Rather than
expend more wasted energy, Esteban tucked his head down low and charged into
the Chinese soldier, ramming him into the wall. The stones had a greater effect
than his fists, but it was still not enough. His opponent was done with
playing.