Leap - 02 (32 page)

Caesare smiled again, condescendingly.  “You’re not taking her anywhere.”

“No?”  He got to his feet, pulling her up along with him.  “Drop your gun, or I’ll kill her now.”

“What is this, a movie?” Caesare mocked.  “I’m sensing you don’t think very far ahead.  If you kill her, I’ll kill you.  And believe me, you won’t like the way I do it.”

Blanco was growing nervous.  He pulled the barrel away from DeeAnn and pointed it at Caesare.  “Then you die.”

“I’ll take you with me.”  Caesare’s eyes grew cold and hard.  “That I promise you.”

Blanco didn’t answer.  Instead, he glanced around feverously.

“If you kill her, you die.  If you kill me, you die.  So, the only way you make it out of here alive is to let her go.”

”I…”  Blanco heard a noise and cut himself off.  Something was coming toward them.  “What is that?”

Caesare listened then smiled.  He recognized the faint pitch easily.  “That’s the sound of
prison
.”

Less than a hundred feet away, Dulce remained hidden behind a boulder.  She peered carefully around the side of the rock, keeping her eyes on the embankment above.
Were the bad men coming?  She didn’t know what to do.

She watched the wisps of smoke glide through the air, as she listened and waited.  The crying had stopped, but the bad men had her mommy.  Then something else.  Another voice.  A deeper voice.  Dulce’s eyes opened excitedly.  It was a voice she recognized.

When she heard it again, Dulce jumped out from behind the rock and scurried back up the grassy embankment.  When she reached the top, she continued straight through the smoke at Caesare. 
He here!  He here!

Caesare was staring intently at Blanco, waiting for an opportunity, when he noticed something come bounding up the hill.  He kept his gun pointed at Blanco and glanced to the side. 
It was Dulce!
  His heart softened momentarily until he realized that she was headed for him at full speed.  He put out his palm, “DULCE, NO!”

She didn’t stop.  Scared out of her wits, she ran for one of the few people she knew could keep her safe.

“NO!” was all Caesare got out before Dulce closed the distance and leapt for him, diving into his arms and knocking him backward.

Caesare had been waiting for an opportunity, but so had Blanco.  As soon as the gorilla hit Caesare, Blanco fired.

63

Caesare stumbled back again as the bullet tore through his right side and exited his lower back.  Blanco aimed again but didn’t fire.  Rather, he froze as the faint sound he had heard moments ago quickly became a roar, and a helicopter suddenly thundered over their heads. 

Caesare collapsed onto one knee but still managed to get a shot off, striking Blanco in his exposed shoulder. 

Blanco yelled and threw DeeAnn to the ground.  He sprinted away at an angle and fired twice more for cover.  Neither bullet found their mark, but it was all he needed to make it to the protection of another patch of smoke floating idly past.  In an instant, Blanco was gone.

The moment he was hit, Caesare felt Dulce go limp in his arms.  She tried to scream but couldn’t.  The bullet had gone through her small body before hitting him.  He kept her in his arms and rolled her gently onto her back.  Her eyes softly staring at him, Dulce tried to talk but nothing came out.  The bullet had gone right through her lungs.  Her hands tried to grip Caesare but couldn’t.  Instead, she fell backward in his arms and cried her final tears.

John Clay made a tight circle and landed the small helicopter as quickly as he could.  With a hard thump onto the ground, he powered it down and kicked his door open before jumping out.  From the second seat, Alison opened her own door and climbed down followed by Will Borger.  Even with the air obscured, they knew exactly where the others were…by following the sound of DeeAnn’s screaming.

When they came into view, Caesare was sitting on the ground, propped up against a large rock, trying to press his hands against both sides of his wound.  DeeAnn stood next to him, frantically hugging Dulce and sobbing.  Unaware of the others running toward them across the charred field, DeeAnn knelt down and laid Dulce on the dirt.  She quickly lifted her tiny chin and blew into her mouth.  She then locked her fingers together and began pumping Dulce’s chest.

Caesare’s red eyes looked up at Clay as he approached, then fell back down to Dulce.  “Help her, John!” he said, with gritted teeth.

Clay started to kneel but suddenly stopped.  “Where’s my bag?!”

Caesare blinked, thinking.  “Back there, about thirty yards.”

Bolting past Caesare, Clay ran up the short incline.  He spotted the bag on the ground, close to where a vehicle had been parked, judging by the tread marks.  He sprinted over and ripped the bag open.  When he found the small pocket inside, he pulled out what he was looking for and came back running.

When he returned, Alison was on the ground, next to DeeAnn, blowing air through Dulce’s wide lips while DeeAnn kept pumping.  It wasn’t working.

Clay stopped before them and locked eyes with Caesare, who was staring curiously back at him.  He opened his hand and studied the square, silver cube in his palm.  A year ago, the device had changed history in the blink of an eye.

Clay knelt to the ground at Caesare’s feet, watching his labored breathing.  He looked at him one more time before turning to Dulce.  Then Clay pressed the cube against her soft, furry chest.

Nothing happened.

He pressed it firmly against Dulce’s body.  “Come on.  Come on!”

DeeAnn and Alison paused and looked at the object.  Beneath Clay’s hand, Dulce’s body merely sagged under the pressure.  She was as still as a rag doll.  After several attempts, Clay removed his hand and stood up, taking a step backwards.

Both women were looking at Clay, wondering what he was doing.  Then it happened.  A bright blue flash emanated from the silver cube and rippled outward over Dulce’s small figure.

The elements inside the cube activated.  With a bright flash, the cube’s mysterious element created a powerful magnetic circle, which instantaneously began to fuse the deuterium core.  The inside of the circle glowed bright blue at first.  Then suddenly it turned black as all light was sucked out, and the portal reached out to connect through time and space.

Alison and DeeAnn, along with Borger standing behind them, all gaped in stunned silence as the gateway opened.  Clay and Caesare had seen it before.

It took only seconds before a human figure appeared within the glowing portal, which had now stretched itself into the shape of an oval.  The figure was shorter than average and peered out at the black ground in front of him with a puzzled expression. 

He had a smooth bald head and deep blue eyes.  He stepped out of the portal, looking surprisingly calm as his gaze found the women.  He then followed their arms down to Dulce.

Palin looked up from the gorilla’s small body and over to Clay, just as two more men came out of the portal behind him.  “You’re learning.”

64

While the two other men examined Dulce, Palin turned to Caesare on the ground and examined him curiously.  “You appear to get shot frequently.”

Caesare tried to laugh but couldn’t.  Instead, he coughed up a small drop of bloody spittle.

A minute later, after quickly bandaging Dulce, one of Palin’s men rose with the small gorilla in his arms and headed for the portal.  The second man moved to Caesare and began examining his wound.

Palin remained still, observing, before his blue eyes turned to Clay.  “Hello, John Clay.”

Clay grinned.  “Hello, Palin.”

“We are pleased to see you again.”

“So are we.” 

They both glanced back when Caesare groaned painfully.  Palin’s medic was pressing a thin silver patch against his lower abdomen with another to his back.  Clay quickly stepped forward to help as the medic began to pull Caesare up onto his feet.

Once up, the medic tucked his head under Caesare’s arm for support.  Without a word, he walked Caesare forward to the portal and stepped through, just as the first man carrying Dulce had done.

Palin clasped his hands behind his back and, with a hint of humor, raised an eyebrow at Alison, DeeAnn, and Borger.  None of them had moved an inch.  “Have you not informed your friends about our first meeting?”

“Oh, I have,” Clay mused.  “But there is nothing like seeing this first hand.”

Palin nodded and kept his smirk.  He stepped back to the portal before turning around to face Clay and the others again.  He looked curiously at them.  “Are you coming?”

65

The temperature change stepping into the portal was a shock.  The hot, humid, and smoky air was instantly replaced by a cool and crisp atmosphere.  In his mind, it triggered an old memory for Clay: like jumping from a hot tub into a cold swimming pool.

The place they followed Palin into was wide and clean.  The lighting was also slightly dimmer, telling Clay that they were indoors.  He judged the room to be roughly a hundred feet by another sixty wide.  It appeared to be a perfectly cut rectangular area within lightly colored stone that resembled granite.  While he scanned the walls, Clay instinctively turned back for Alison as she stepped timidly through.  Behind her came a very startled DeeAnn and a fascinated Will Borger.

Grasping Alison’s hand, Clay turned back around to Palin and the strange room.  It was filled with people running back and forth.  Few seemed to even notice them.  They were speaking a different language.  Caesare and Dulce were nowhere to be seen.

Not far away, another bright flash of light burst from the air and a second portal opened.  Two people, a man and a woman, dressed in identical light blue clothing, rushed past Clay and disappeared into its black center.

“Where are we?”  Clay asked.

“This is our planet.”

Clay’s gaze followed several others who rushed past.  “What is this place?”

Palin smiled, watching a mesmerized Borger study the entire room behind them.  The stone walls towered over their heads, each with wide hallways at floor level.  “It’s a hospital.”

“A hospital?”

Clay watched as the two who had run into the other portal came back out carrying a lifeless figure.  A third worker instantly arrived, pushing a floating gurney onto which they lowered the figure carefully.  They all then disappeared together down one of the hallways.

DeeAnn stepped forward.  “Where’s Dulce?”

Palin studied her for a moment.  “Dulce is your gorilla?”

“Yes.”

“The gorilla is being attended to.  As is Mr. Caesare.”

“Attended to?  What does that mean?”

“I mean, being cared for.”

DeeAnn’s eyes became huge and she had to keep herself from leaping forward to grab him.  “Wait, she’s alive?!”

“Probably.”

“But…she…”

Palin answered DeeAnn before she could finish.  “Died?  She may have.  We’ll know soon.  Mr. Clay did activate the portal quickly which means your gorilla has a much better chance now.”  He turned back to Clay.  “I’m quite certain Mr. Caesare will survive his wounds.”

“So it
is
a life saving device.”

“That is correct.  A combination energy source and computer, designed to fuse in the event of a critically incapacitated host.  You may remember having seen one before.”

“Uh, yeah,” Clay nearly chuckled. 
How could he forget?  It was Palin’s device that had been activated.
  Clay thought of something.  “What did you mean back there when you said, ‘you’re learning?’”

“You used the device I gave you to save the gorilla, did you not?”

“Yes.”

“And you knew it could be used only once.”

“I suspected.”

Palin’s face softened.  “Then I meant exactly what I spoke.  You are learning, John Clay.  You’re learning that there is more to life than simply being at the top of the food chain.”

On the far side of the room, Borger witnessed the appearance of a third portal, and more people hurrying toward it.  “Does everyone have a cube?”

“Not everyone,” Palin replied.

“How do they work?  How much energy do they require?”

“The energy required is very large.  Two-way tunnels can be activated from great distances with the help of these devices.  However, a one-way tunnel is much more limited, both in distance and energy.”

Alison gasped.  “That’s how you did it?  That’s how you saved him!”

Palin cocked his head.  “Saved who?”

“Dirk.  Our dolphin!  When you were on Earth!”

“Correct,” he nodded.  “It was at great cost, but your facility was just within range for a one-way tunnel.”

“What great cost?”

“These portals are very complex.  They require large amounts of energy to establish a tunnel.  A two-way tunnel, initiated from one of our portable energy sources, is more efficient and requires less energy.  A one-way tunnel doesn’t have an initiating endpoint.  Instead, the process is far more difficult.  Without a source, the one side must bore a hole, which requires an enormous amount of energy.  Energy of which we have little left.”

“But you still did it.”

“We did it twice, Ms. Shaw,” Palin corrected.  “The first was pulling your dolphin out from under an explosive device.  The second time was delivering him back to you.  In hindsight, given how much energy we lost, it was not a wise decision.”

“Then why did you do it?”

“Because we were grateful.  Your dolphin saved us, and as I said, there is much more to life than being at the top of the food chain.” 

DeeAnn interrupted.  “I’m sorry, but I need to see Dulce.  I need to know if she is all right!”

Palin nodded.  “Very well.”

He led them into another hallway, cut from the same stone as the rest of the room.  As they walked, Borger studied the low ceiling, which appeared lit, but he couldn’t find any lights.  It was almost as if the air itself was illuminated.  They passed several doors and felt the refreshing wisps of dry, cool air against the perspiration on their skin.  Palin slowed at the fifth door and pushed it quietly open.  Inside was the medic that had carried Dulce from the smoke strewn jungle.

Dulce’s still body lay on a smooth examination table with several strange devices hanging over her from above.  The medic was moving a flat surface from one of the devices back and forth across her small furry body.

“What is that?”

“The cells in our body, just as in yours, are energy driven.  And energy travels in frequencies.  The device he is using radiates special frequencies that stimulate cellular activity and, in this case, repair.”

“Is she alive?”

“The definition of life, or death, extends beyond what your world currently understands.  Life within a body is comprised according to our cellular structure.  And cells remain usable longer than you know.”  Palin turned from Dulce’s body back to DeeAnn.  “Death does not always come quite as swiftly as you may think.”

“How much longer are cells usable?” Borger asked.

“Not long, but long enough that your world might see it as bringing someone back from death.  In reality, the body had not fully died yet.”

Palin turned to the medic who looked back and nodded.  “It seems your gorilla will live.”

DeeAnn inhaled, placing her hands over her open mouth.  “Oh, thank God.  Will she…remember?”

“Her cells will remember.”  Palin nodded.  “Perhaps you would like to stay here while we check on Mr. Caesare.”

“Yes, I would.”

Moments later, Palin led the other three to another nearby room where they found Caesare reclining on a similar table.  His shirt was off with each of his wounds covered in clean patches.  A different, smallish device was pulled in close to his abdomen, shining a bright light on one of the patches.

He smiled with only a trace of pain when they entered.  “What took you so long?”

“We were filling out medical forms.”

Caesare grimaced.  “How’s Dulce?”

“Palin says she’s going to make it.”

“Good.”  He grinned at Clay.  “I guess you figured out that silver block after all.”

“Actually, you did.”

“What do you mean?”

“You were right, Steve.  I wasn’t supposed to figure it out.  I realized it might simply be a life saving device.  Which means it’s not
supposed
to be activated manually.  After all, once paired with a person, that person probably wouldn’t be conscious when it was really needed.”

“So, it would know what to do.  All by itself.”

Palin looked at them curiously.  “So tell me, Mr. Clay, what were you doing in a burning jungle?”

Clay explained the story, describing the remarkable biological discovery in Guyana and the Chinese warship that absconded with it.  He also explained the attack on the Bowditch that allowed the warship to flee, even at the risk of creating a major geopolitical event.  If Palin was surprised at Clay’s story, he didn’t show it.  Instead, he listened thoughtfully as Clay spoke.  When he was finished, Palin shook his head.

“There is great danger in your discovery.”

There was a brief silence as Clay and Caesare looked at each other.  An anxious Borger interrupted by extending his hand.  “Mr. Palin, my name is Will Borger.”

Palin smiled and took his hand.  “We know who you are, Mr. Borger.  We are grateful for the help you provided to Mr. Clay and Mr. Caesare.  The pleasure is mine.”

Caught a little off guard, Borger took a deep breath.  “I…uh, have a lot of questions.  Like how your portal works?  What’s the unknown element inside the silver cubes?  And what are these cellular frequencies that you’re using for healing?  There’s just so much-”

Palin raised his hand and stopped Borger.  “Mr. Borger, we come from the same carbon based origins.  Given the common patterns of carbon evolution, we are more similar than you know.  We both have humanoid brains, and we both are creatures of tools and knowledge.  And our thirst for knowledge is constant.”  He nodded to Clay.  “Mr. Clay also had many questions the last time we spoke.”

Clay frowned at Borger.  “You’re not going to like his answer, Will.”

“And what was my answer, John Clay?”

“You said it was unwise for a race to gain knowledge too quickly.”

“You remember well,” Palin replied.  “But do you
understand
?”

“I understand.  But I’m not sure I agree.”

Palin sighed.  “My answer was not an attempt to be evasive or trite.  It was not to keep you from achievement.  It’s a truth of being human.  We long to know answers, even when we lack the capability to bear those answers.  Knowledge is only as safe as our wisdom.  My people are no different.  Further along, perhaps, but not so different fundamentally.  Consider advancements in your own history and within your own skills of ingenuity.  Things like gunpowder, or fission, or chemical weapons.  These discoveries were borne from advancement, yet they radically changed the course of your planet’s history.  They eventually became tools of unimaginable power.”

“But they also brought about good things.”

“That is true,” Palin wore a knowing frown.  “But which outweighs the other, the good or the bad?  Our histories have many similarities.  The circumstances are different, but the lessons are the same.  It took a cataclysmic event and the near extinction of our people to finally rise above our differences.  To understand that true wisdom is not about being right, it’s about the unintended consequences of our decisions.”  He paused, watching Borger.  “You know that portals are possible now, even practical.  And you will one day discover the element we use to create them.  But with them comes the ability to harness unimaginable levels of energy.  How well do you believe your people would handle a true
leap
in knowledge, given their current use of fission and fusion devices?  How well would they manage frequencies that can harm as well as heal?  Mr. Borger, ingenuity is the ultimate gift of humankind.  And conquest is the ultimate curse.  They cannot be separated.  Not yet.  Not until you face the gravest threat to your planet’s existence.  Until you face mortality as a species, not as individual groups.  Only then can you glimpse true wisdom.”

The room fell silent, and Palin watched Will Borger lower his gaze to the floor before he continued.  “We came to your planet to save ourselves.  It was a journey fraught with problems and danger.  We came for the only resource that could save us: water, a resource that you have in abundance beyond your own comprehension.  Water is not rare in the universe, but a planet covered in so
much
water is exceptionally rare.  And you don’t have the wisdom yet to even appreciate what you have.  But it will come.  It will come because your water is highly visible.  If we can see it, so can others.  Your water makes your planet Earth a
beacon
to all who can see you.”

Clay’s eyes narrowed.  “How many others?”

“More than you have dreamed.  I pray that your race matures faster than ours did.”

“Wait,” Alison spoke up.  “Isn’t that even more reason to share your knowledge with us?”

“You are wiser than most, Alison Shaw.  But wisdom on a global level takes a very long time.  You and your team have achieved a giant step forward for your people.  You have broken the barrier of communication that has kept you isolated for so very long.  You have regained an ability you once had natively, but have since lost.  Your breakthrough may prove to be the most important turning point for your race in understanding the world around you.  An understanding that will reveal your world as more than just a planet of resources.  Life is not simply a matter of breathing or thinking.  Life is
connectedness
on a planetary scale.”