Journey Into the Flame (46 page)

They had made it into the SCC level.

“We have forty-five minutes,” Valerie said.

“This level looks much smaller,” Logan observed from the alcove where they were standing after exiting the cooling tube. “Do we know where we are?”

Sylvia brought up an image of the floor plan on her PCD. The Satellite Control Center was laid out in three concentric circular structures.
The main control center, where they needed to go, was in the innermost ring. It was approximately fifteen meters in width, and the inner wall was made of a single piece of tempered glass, which provided a view of the translucent quantum core that extended to the surface. The middle ring consisted of a thirty-meter-wide circular hallway, where administrative and support staff stations were located. Its three doors provided access to the inner main control center. The outer ring, where Logan and the others were standing, was the largest of the three rings. It was fifty meters wide and was used mainly for maintenance and servicing. While there were twelve doors in the outer ring, which led to the middle administrative ring, none of them led directly to the main control center.

“We can use that entrance ahead of us to get to the middle ring,” Sylvia said, pointing to a door marked with the number nine. “Once in the middle, we can go either right or left to reach one of the entrances to the SCC.”

“What do we do then?” Logan asked.

“We’ll figure that out once we get there,” Valerie said. “But we have to deal with another problem first.” She pointed upward to ceiling-mounted security cameras spaced every ten meters or so. “We need to get by them first.”

“Let’s see if we can get some help.” Sylvia engaged Chetan on her PCD. “There are cameras all over this floor. Any way to disable them, even for a moment?”

“Yes, I can issue a reboot to the security subsystem from here,” Chetan said. “It will be about twenty seconds before the cameras restart. That should give you enough time to go through the door. Give me a moment—it will take a little doing.”

While they waited for Chetan, Valerie pulled her gun out and checked the chamber and magazine, then reholstered it. Then she took her backup piece, which was strapped to her right calf, checked it, and handed it to Logan. “Here, you take this one.”

He nodded, taking the gun and placing it in the front pocket of his backpack. He looked at Sylvia.

“I’m covered,” she said, pulling back her jacket and revealing her own WCF-issued firearm.

“Everything is ready,” Chetan announced. “But there is another problem. They have also locked down the middle ring!”

“What does that mean?” Valerie said. “The clock’s ticking here.”

“It means that they have switched the cameras there to be heat-sensitive. Anything caught moving around in there that is hotter than the surrounding air will set off the alarm. No one is going to get close to the main control center without them knowing about it,” Chetan said. “We can’t keep rebooting the system, or someone will be alerted.”

“This just gets better and better,” Sylvia said, shaking her head. “We have to be able to move around the middle ring freely because we have to figure out a way to get into the main control center.”

“Too bad we don’t have a cloaking device,” Logan said facetiously.

Valerie was silent, contemplating the situation. “Chetan, do you have access to the heating and air-conditioning systems for the middle ring?”

“Yes, everything is controlled by the computer,” Chetan said.

“Well, can you turn the heat up in the middle ring?”

“And set the temperature to ninety-eight-point-six degrees. Brilliant!” Chetan finished her thought. “Yes, I can do that. It will take a few minutes to raise the temperature. Hold tight.”

“Set the temperature to just above ninety-one degrees,” Sylvia corrected. “That is the typical surface temperature of the human body.” She turned to Logan. “How’s that for cloaking?”

A few more precious minutes ticked by as they waited for Chetan.

“Everything is set,” he finally announced. “The temperature in the middle is ninety-one-point-three degrees, and the security system will reboot in fifteen seconds.” Valerie drew her gun and prepared to lead as Chetan counted down the time. “. . . One and zero.” Sylvia cut off her call, and Chetan’s image disappeared.

“Let’s go!” Valerie said, leading them quickly out of the alcove and across the hallway. She swiped Chetan’s card, and door number nine opened. They walked through a large, well-lit access tube until they
reached the door on the other side. With another card swipe, they entered the middle ring.

A wave of heat hit them as if they were walking out into a hot summer day, but no alarm sounded as they cautiously stepped forward. The middle ring was dark except for a few lights that dimly illuminated the circular hallway. With her gun still drawn, Valerie led them to the right, looking for the entrance door to the main control center.

“We have thirty-seven minutes before they initiate the pulse,” Logan said.

“Remember, we shouldn’t move very fast,” Sylvia warned. “We don’t want to raise our body temperatures.”

Valerie slowed her pace. “Get down,” she suddenly said, dropping to the floor. Logan and Sylvia followed suit. They had come to a series of large windows that looked into the innermost ring, where the main control center was. “I saw them in there,” she whispered.

Logan rose to his knees and took a look himself before dropping back down to the floor. “Andrea and Lucius,” he said.

“Gretchen has a gun pointed at someone sitting at one of the control panels,” Valerie said. “I remember seeing two more guards on the security footage, but I don’t see them right now.”

“The only way to secure the control center is to surprise them. We need to sneak in there somehow,” Logan said. He glanced down at his PCD. “We only have twenty-eight minutes.”

Sylvia called Chetan back on her PCD. “We’re outside the main control center,” she reported in a whisper. “Any other ways to enter besides the main doors?”

“The only openings that I can think of are the cable access panels,” Chetan said. “They are used by the service technicians to pull cables in and out of the SCC. There should be one close to where you are, just under the window.” Sylvia panned with her PCD so that Chetan could see what they were seeing. “There, that silver hatch,” he said, referring to a square inset under and to the left of the window. “That is one of the panels.”

“How do we open it?” Valerie asked. “There aren’t any handles or locks.”

“They’re magnetically sealed for security purposes. The lock can only be released from the security office,” Chetan said. “One of you will have to go back, very close to where you entered the middle ring. You need to go into office forty-six-B. On the desk is a security panel you can use to disengage the magnetic locks. I can walk you through it when you get there.”

“I’ll do that,” Logan volunteered.

“Chetan can guide you.” Sylvia gave Logan her PCD.

“Be careful,” Valerie said as she gave him Chetan’s security card. “And get back here as soon as you’re done.”

Logan squeezed Valerie’s shoulder and moved away from the windows. He stood up slowly and walked back down the hallway, looking for office 46-B. He was holding Sylvia’s PCD out in front of him as Chetan’s image was projected. All of the offices were situated along the long circular wall to Logan’s left. The doors were made of stainless steel and bore an eerie resemblance to the maze room at G-LAB.

“You just passed room forty-seven; forty-six-B is coming up,” Chetan said. “There, on the left.”

Logan swiped the security card, and the door to the security office opened. The lights in the room came on automatically as he entered. A very large desk with three chairs behind it occupied most of the office. The floor had a dull gray carpet, and the walls were bare except for a few blank monitors.

“What now?” Logan asked.

“Sit in the middle chair behind the desk,” Chetan instructed. “You should see a security panel built into the table.”

Logan walked around the desk and took a seat, setting Sylvia’s PCD down on the desk. Chetan eyed the controls and walked Logan through the various options until they found the control for the magnetic locks.

“Hit that button, and the lock should disengage,” Chetan said.

Logan pressed the button on the display, and a green light came on. “Looks like it worked.”

He ended the call. As he exited the security office, he heard muffled voices and the sound of a struggle coming from down the hallway. He pulled out the gun that Valerie had given him and started running back to where he had left her and Sylvia. Suddenly, he stopped; the voices had gone silent. He pointed the gun straight ahead of him, his hand shaking as he walked quickly down the hallway. He remembered something his father would say to him: “If fear is the motivation that moves you forward, then I support your fear.”

Within moments, he was back in front of the access door, but Valerie and Sylvia were no longer there. He knelt down and noticed a few drops of blood on the floor. Still kneeling, he moved closer to the window. He poked his head up carefully and saw the two guards they hadn’t seen earlier. Their guns were pointed at the heads of Valerie and Sylvia. Valerie’s forehead was bleeding.
The blood on the floor must be hers
, Logan thought as he dropped back down to the floor.

Going through the access door didn’t seem to be an option any longer. He closed his eyes, leaned against the wall, and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm his racing heart. Of all the things that should have been going through his mind, he remembered the mysterious voice that had spoken to him during his last candle journey: “When the finger of the unknown presents itself, be greater than Adam, and grasp its opportunity.” The sentence ran through his mind over and over again.

In a moment of inspiration, he opened his eyes and readied himself. He had an insane idea.

Twenty-three minutes left.

57

If you had everything you wanted, would you still have the desire to discover something new?

—THE CHRONICLES OF SATRAYA

DHARAN, NEPAL, 4:22 A.M. LOCAL TIME,

23 MINUTES UNTIL LIBERTY MOMENT

“Foolish woman!” Andrea scolded Valerie. “Did you really think that the two of you had any chance of stopping us?”

Valerie and Sylvia both remained silent.

“And where is your little friend?” Andrea walked over to Valerie and leaned in close to her bloodied face. “Where is Camden Ford’s son?”

“What would your husband say if he were alive today and could see what cold-blooded killers his wife and son turned out to be?” Valerie retorted. She stared at Andrea’s face, which was shadowed by her signature crimson hood. “Wouldn’t he be a little concerned about how you’ve sullied the Benson family name?”

Lucius turned toward Valerie, brandishing a knife in his hand, offering her a reminder of what happened at the plantation.

“Calm yourself,” Andrea told him. “She’s just a desperate woman who knows her end is near.” She turned to Sylvia. “Perhaps you know where Camden Ford’s son is?”

“His name is Logan,” Sylvia said in a voice as defiant as Valerie’s. “And I don’t know where he is.”

“No? Too cowardly to join you on this suicide mission? Not surprising, I suppose, that he should turn out so like his father—”

Without warning, the door to the SCC opened, and in walked Logan with his hands raised above his head, his backpack in his right hand. One of the guards moved swiftly away from Sylvia and redirected his gun at Logan.

Logan did not resist. Lucius grabbed the backpack out of Logan’s hand and shoved him into a chair next to Valerie, who looked astonished.

“It seems that I was mistaken; you
are
braver than your father,” Andrea said to Logan. “But I dare say just as rash and foolish.”

“Playing God is a dangerous game,” Logan warned. “The blood of millions will be on your hands.”

“Not as many as are already on God’s hands,” Andrea said. “We are doing this for a greater purpose, a greater good.”

“A greater good? How many tyrants and killers before you have used those words to justify their plans? Who are you to choose who will live and who will die?”

“You sound just like your pathetic father.” Andrea shook her head, as if dealing with an ignorant child. “Fifty years ago, the people of the world were set free by the events of the Great Disruption. Men and women could do as they wished; there were no rules, no laws. But look how they used their newfound freedom. They fought with one another; they stole food and hoarded supplies. Do you know how many people died
after
the Disruption, how many were killed by their friends and neighbors?”

“But the
Chronicles
set people on the right path,” Logan countered. “Those books changed everything. People grew out of their desperation and fear. They were able to choose their own
greater good
, not have it done for them!”

“They did, indeed,” Andrea agreed. “But Fendral knew that utopia
would not last for very long, which is why we wanted to take the Council to new heights. We could have ensured civility!”

“You mean you could have ensured control!” Logan fired back. “The likes of you are trying to push the world back to where it was before the Disruption. Cynthia was right; she was right about the financial institutions, about the drug companies, and about the genetically modified food supply. You wanted her out of the way so you could plunge the world into dependency again. You’ll try to take out anyone who poses a threat to your rule!”

“People have made their own choices,” Andrea said. “People have voted for a restored monetary system, they have voted to advance medical technologies, and they have voted for an abundance of food. They have elected the leaders who create the laws by which citizens must abide. We are the silent wind at the backs of your officials, ensuring that the world doesn’t run out of control again.”

“The silent wind. True power is not the silent wind at the backs of corrupt politicians, it is the wind of encouragement that kisses the cheek of every sincere man and woman. You, of all people, should know this. Do you really think that exterminating the free thinkers of the world is going to produce what you want?”