Soul Thief (Blue Light Series) (47 page)

The woman drove
the compact Ford Fiesta south along the four lane highway. The sky was clear and the moon was bright enough for her to occasionally catch a glimpse of it reflecting off the Gulf of Mexico in the distance. It was after midnight and traffic was light on the boulevard. Even so, she was careful to watch her speed and obey all traffic laws. Presently she came to a turnoff where she braked and pulled the car into a side road, driving without headlights for approximately half a mile through avocado and citrus groves.

Where the groves met the
deep darkness of pine forest, she pulled the vehicle into a small turnout and maneuvered it around so that it was pointing out. She exited the vehicle and moved to the trunk where she secured her night vision goggles and weapon. She donned the goggles and then hoisted the M39 EMR. The M39 Enhanced Marksman Rifle was a modernized version of the M14 designed specifically for the United States Marine Corp and first used in 2008. The M39 used match-grade 7.62x51mm NATO cartridges. Like all sniper rifles in the battlefield the M39 was effective at very long ranges. The woman knew the weapon well. She’d trained extensively with it. She checked her bearings and took off at a trot into the brush.

Her footfalls
were nothing but a whisper through the underbrush and she slowed as her GPS indicated that she was getting close to her mark. There were at least a dozen sentries guarding the target, she knew, plus silent Dobermans. The stone fence with its razor wire crown was visible against the moonlit sky from a hundred yards back. She paused to flip the night vision goggles out of her field of vision. She knew she didn’t need to be within range of the motion detectors or the scent of the dogs to accomplish what she came here to do.

She easily found the tree she was looking for and with several deft overhand strokes she climbed the thirty-five feet needed to get the view she wanted. There was a limb in which to comfortabl
y sit, and another on which to rest the rifle.

Nadia knew that
she was breaking every rule, every oath she’d ever taken being here. She also knew that it would be her one and only chance to do what she felt deeply needed to be done. She placed the rifle in position and squinted through the scope until she had the view she was looking for. Through the east wing window she had a view of the interior of De Roché’s study and his favorite chair. The distance was perhaps six hundred yards. She was prepared to wait all night for him to come into the study, but providence must have been on her side, for there he was sitting in his chair looking toward the television screen. Nadia did a quick check of wind speed and direction. The night was dead calm. She took a deep breath and placed the crosshairs directly over the old man’s heart. Carefully she squeezed the trigger. The rifle cracked and bucked against her shoulder. She kept her eye on the target and saw an explosion of blood that could not be faked. The target did not move.

S
ecurity was diligent, however. They’d heard the shot and had seen the muzzle flash. And as expected, they immediately returned fire. But Nadia had already slung the rifle and was climbing down the branches of the tree. As she hit the ground running she heard vehicles rev and an alarm go off.

She knew it was going to be close, but a
s she sprinted through the woods, lights from approaching vehicles bounced toward her faster than she’d anticipated. She had maybe thirty seconds now, but it should be enough. She swung the driver’s door of the Fiesta open, tossed the rifle and goggles onto the passenger seat and got in behind the wheel. A few seconds later a vehicle came to a stop fifty yards from Nadia’s vehicle, headlights shining in her eyes. Two men with assault rifles got out.

Nadia smiled
at them through the windshield.

The Ford Fiesta
exploded in a fireball. Windows shattered and doors exploded outward. Part of the roof sailed through the air like a giant Frisbee, slamming into the earth not ten yards from one of the gunmen. An oily black cloud of smoke rose from the blazing car, flames licking hungrily at the melting frame.

The vehicle
cooked with an intensity that defied logic. The men just watched it. No police or fire departments were called, and when it was over very little was found in the remains of the vehicle, certainly not enough to recognize any of it as human. Later that night a backhoe dug a hole and every last scrap of it was buried forever beneath the Florida sand.

Nadia Zeigler was gone from the world. More to the point, it was as if she’d never existed at all. Perhaps she never had.

The fate of Édouard De Roché was never made public.

SOMEWHERE IN THE NORTHERN MAINE WILDERNESS

The distant droning of an aircraft engine drew the woman out onto the porch of the three room cabin. In her arms she carried a beautiful girl child with wispy-blond hair.

Her husband
was in the yard splitting firewood when he heard the plane. He stopped his work and stood beside his wife and child in anticipation. The child pointed toward the distant sound, giggling, eyes alight.

A
droning seaplane broke suddenly out into the opening above the pond, coming in low and dropping deftly onto its serene surface. The child pointed, squealing in delight.

The couple walked down onto the doc
k as the plane came to a halt beside it. The man grabbed a line and tied the aircraft off.

When the door opened Rick Jennings
said, “Joe and Carrie Summers, two of my favorite people in the world.” His smile was conspiratorial. He stepped from the plane onto the dock and fiercely hugged his two friends.

The
twenty-two month old girl put both arms out and Jennings took her. “Untoo Wick!” she exclaimed, giving him a big smack on the lips.

Once supplies were
unloaded, Doug and Jennings pulled a large camouflaged screen over the aircraft so that its easily recognizable signature could not be spotted from the air. Afterward, Annie put the baby down for a nap and they retired to the screened-in front porch for lunch and conversation.

“How are things out there?” Doug asked
.

“Not much has changed,”
Jennings replied. “Within the ranks of our esteemed government, you’re still a wanted man, but at least the public doesn’t know it. The feds have been very tight lipped about your identity.”

“
That’s because they know he’s innocent,” Annie said bitterly.

“
Spencer is convinced that I helped you but he can’t prove it and I’m not talking.”

“It’s been
more than two years,” Annie said. “What are the chances they won’t eventually find us?”

“I think the chances are fair
that they will,” Jennings said. “It’s only a matter of time before they put the pieces together and realize where you are. It’s why it was only supposed to be a temporary solution.” He sighed. “We’ve been lucky so far. Tomorrow Doug and I will pack another round of supplies up to the ice caves. After that there should be enough to last the three of you a month or more if need be. If they get too close to this place you should have enough warning to get yourselves out of here and into the caves. How long has it been since you’ve tested all the security cameras and motion detectors?”

“I do it every other day,” Doug replied.

“By the way,” Annie said. “We had a scare day before yesterday. A couple of hikers came real close. Animals are always setting off the motion detectors but their signature is easy to spot. This was different.”

“I headed out until I located them,” Doug added. By then they were
moving away. I watched them from the crest of a hill for a long time. I’m convinced they were just backpackers. Their movements didn’t seem suspicious at all.”

Jennings
’s face fell into a deep frown. “It still worries me,” he said. “I saw a huge cut on my way in. Paper company activity. They can’t clear-cut near the pond but realistically they can come pretty close. I only own the property directly around the pond. I’m afraid all the activity is going to bring more attention to this area. I think it’s time to think about our contingency plan.”

Doug did not reply. He was deep in thought.
He reached over and took Annie’s hand.

“
You might be right, Rick,” Annie said. “I’m really scared. The more time passes, the more I feel we’re running out of time. I’m scared for Ariel. My God, she’s such a gift, so smart, so intuitive. I swear I’ll kill anybody who tries to harm her.”

They talked through the afternoon. Doug grilled steaks outside for a late dinner. They ate and marveled at how amazingly bright Ariel was. She was walking and running and talking like a kid twice her age. And she was saying things that baffled them all. They all knew instinctively that she was destined to be someone very special.

“What did you do with the artifact?”
Jennings asked Doug.

“It’s somewhere safe. I’ve left instructions in case anything happens to me. When she’s old enough she’ll know what to do with it. I
sure hope so, anyway.”

“She will,” Annie said.

When Ariel was so tired she could no longer keep her eyes open, Annie put her to bed.

The three of them
sat outside listening to the loons calling mournfully across the water and watching the spectacular star field overhead. Unlike urban areas there was no artificial light out here in the wilderness to dampen the view of the night sky.

After a long moment of silent contemplation, Doug said,
“So, as far as everyone is concerned, Annie’s father just vanished from the face of the earth.”

“That’s
the way it looks,” Jennings said.

Annie gave her head an adamant shake.
“He’s not gone,” she said. “You’ll see.”

After another long moment of silence Doug said,
“Who are we really? I mean, what are we? Where did we come from? I’ve always wanted to believe that this was all random, that there was no purpose, no grand design to anything, just some sort of cosmic accident. Now, I’m not so sure. I mean what about the Collector or Soul Thief or whatever the hell he was? He wasn’t from here. He wasn’t even human, yet he knew things he couldn’t possibly have known. How did he know what to do? How did he know about us? How did he know about our future?”

“I can’t answer that,”
Jennings said. “I’ve seen things in my life I can’t begin to explain, so I don’t even try.”

“Life is
more complex than any of us can imagine,” Annie said. “We’re just one evolutionary outcome. I can’t say if it’s random or planned. Maybe it’s somehow both.”

“I need to ask you something, Rick,
” Doug said, “and I want the truth.”

“Okay, sure.”

“I mean it.”

“I know.”

“A long time ago we were fishing not far from here at Sandy Stream. I slipped and went under water. In that moment I saw the future. I saw the Collector and everything he did, I saw the plane crash and I saw all those people die. But that’s not everything I saw. There was this vision of a terrible future that has yet to happen but as sure as I’m sitting here I believe will. It is a future that my daughter will be a part of in some way, a future that she will help to shape, hopefully for the better.” Doug paused as if searching for words.

“What do you want to know, Doug?”
Jennings asked.

“When I was under
water that day I saw a bright blue light spiraling up out of Sandy Stream. In those moments I felt the blue light engulfing me, communicating with me. Not in any known language, but it was talking to me somehow, and I understood. It was showing me the future and telling me that if I followed the path maybe we would have a chance. You know about the blue light, don’t you?”

Jennings
didn’t answer immediately, but it didn’t matter, Doug saw the acquiescence in his eyes.

“I saw the blue light on that day, Doug
,” Jennings admitted finally. “I didn’t tell you because truthfully I didn’t believe my own eyes. I watched it pick you up out of that rushing river and deposit you on the gravel bar, and then it went back into the water and disappeared beneath the surface. I thought you were dead, but you weren’t. I gave you CPR and you were okay. If you want the truth, I think you drowned and that light somehow saved you.”

Doug nodded.
“I think so too.”

Annie took Doug in her arms hugging him fiercely. “God,” she said
.

“
Several years ago before all this began you were involved in some sort of operation on Apocalypse Island,” Doug said to Jennings. “You’ve never talked about it, but when I saw the news reports and all the cell phone videos from around the world I knew it was the same light I saw at Sandy Stream.”

Jennings
sighed. “The governments of the world conspired to destroy them simply because they did not understand them. But if you want the truth, I think they failed. Whatever those things are they’re still around.”

“This is all connected, isn’t it?” Doug said. “
Somehow,
we’re
all connected. All the things that happened; me meeting you and Annie. It feels like it was planned. Like maybe we’re part of something much bigger than we can imagine.”

Annie grasped Doug’s hand. “
I think we are.”

“But that would mean
that there’s some sort of divine plan,” Doug said.

“Who said there wasn’t?”

“The night the Collector went away he told me that those blue lights were some sort of highly evolved organic life form that has been here since before humans arrived. He also said that they were here for a specific purpose and that they are connected to our daughter’s future, and perhaps even to the future of humankind.”

For a long moment there was only silence.
The night was growing cooler; a crisp breeze blew down off the mountains, signaling the arrival of autumn. Annie wiped a tear from her eye as she gazed up at the dense cloud of white stars that made up the rim of the Milky Way. On the western horizon, just above the treetops, a single point of light glowed brighter than any other. It was Venus, a comforting presence here in the wilderness.

“Maybe what’s out there isn’t our enemy,” Annie said.

Doug reached out and placed his hand gently on Annie’s shoulder, then leaning forward, he kissed her tenderly on the cheek. “Maybe it’s our future,” he said.

THE END