The Bar Code Tattoo (17 page)

Eutonah stepped into the light. She wrapped Kayla in a warm embrace. “I knew you were near. I could sense it. But when you failed to arrive, we came out to find you.”

Kayla’s knees buckled with relief, but she caught herself on Eutonah’s arm. “We’re almost at tree line,” Eutonah told her. “Can you manage a short climb?”

“Yes. I think so. Is my friend Mfumbe with you?”

“Not yet, but I feel a strong energy directed toward us. Perhaps he is coming soon. Have faith. Tomorrow we will work on contacting him.”

Eutonah and her group were sure-footed, even in the dark. Whenever Kayla stumbled, the large man who had pulled her from the cave steadied her with a strong hand.

They emerged from the forest to the tree line, where the plants were squat and scrubby. The moonlight made a clear path for them. A square three-story building loomed at the top of the mountain. Moonlight bounced off its many plate glass windows. “It’s the old restaurant that skiers used when this was a ski resort,” Eutonah told her. “It was boarded up and forgotten once they closed down the slope.”

“Why did they close it?”

“It was taken over as a government headquarters and private slope for government families. Then Global-1 opened another headquarters in Hawaii and this one fell into disuse.” Eutonah smiled. “Now we use it, free of charge.”

Kayla followed the group through a glass door and into a vast, open space. “Our group eats together in the cafeteria, cooks in the kitchen,” Eutonah explained, gesturing toward a cafeteria on her right. “We gather in the main room, and sleep in rooms we’ve sectioned off for ourselves. It’s perfect for us.”

July 21, 2025

To: (AT)cybercafe1700
globalnet.planet

From: Thefuture
globalnet.com

“It’s all about energy,” Eutonah told Kayla. They sat out by the edge of the mountain’s tree line. It was the same place where Kayla had first “met” Eutonah. The woman had invited her out to talk about their work together.

“We are all part of an energy field,” she said. “That’s why religious figures and philosophers of all persuasions continually refer to the fact that we are all one. The whole world is one, because even the plants and animals join us on one energy continuum. Some people are more conscious of this and can control the flow of their own energy. Those people have been called holy people, swamis, medicine people, healers, saints, shamans.”

“I should tell you that I’ve been having visions of people all converging on a walled city,” Kayla said. It was hard to admit this, because she feared it revealed her emerging insanity. “There’s mental illness in my family. I’m afraid this means it’s starting in me.”

“You’re not insane,” Eutonah said gently. “You are a person with strong energy flow. You’re a natural conductor of energy. It’s so strong in you that it can throw you forward in time and you get glimpses of the future. This extra energy flow might have driven you insane if you lived in the regular world, but you’ve come here, and now you’re learning to harness and control your energy.”

Not insane. Kayla felt as though a huge weight had been lifted from her. Not insane. “How do I learn to use my energy?” Kayla asked.

“There’s a lot of work to be done,” Eutonah said. “It still costs me. I feel spent afterward. This is all so new to our species, we’re just starting to develop
this power. You must know how to get back the energy you expend or it will drain you until there is nothing left.”

“How do you get it back?”

“The earth gives it back to you. Trees do, too. Animals will share their primal energy if you are kind to them. You must stay in close contact with those things that are good and strong in your life. You must stay in touch with those people whom you love and who love you. That’s what returns energy to you.”

“I need to contact someone I love,” Kayla said. “Mfumbe.”

Eutonah gazed at Kayla, her strong, dark eyes concentrating. Then she nodded, as if she had decided something. “You begin by envisioning the person you want to contact. Focus on his image.”

Kayla began to think of Mfumbe. She started with his beautiful eyes and then built his face around them. It wasn’t difficult. In all the time they’d spent together, she’d memorized every plane and curve of his face until he was part of her.

The sound of footsteps broke her concentration and she saw a man hurrying down from the mountaintop. She recognized him as one of their group. He was breathless and appeared upset when he arrived. “Eutonah, I thought you should know that someone has been using the computer.” The man looked at Kayla.

“Yes. It was me. I did,” she admitted quickly. “I wanted to write my friend.”

Eutonah and the man looked at each other.

“Did you tell your friend where you were?” Eutonah asked her.

Kayla shook her head.

“It doesn’t matter,” Eutonah said sadly. “They can still trace it. This location is compromised.”

Eutonah called a meeting of the entire group that evening by the large stone fireplace in the main meeting room. “Our security has been accidentally breached. It’s not necessary for me to explain by whom or how. Be on alert for anything unusual. I want to use the patrol system we first set up to monitor the tree line. If anyone is coming up any face of the mountain, we want to know about it in time to either secure the building or get out.”

Kayla listened, filled with guilt. Several group members turned to look at her, and Kayla was certain they knew she was to blame. She might as well confess, so she stood and spoke. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s my fault. I forgot to tell you,” Eutonah said. “I’m locking that room from now on. We’ll keep it for emergency use only. In the meantime, let’s all be extra alert and get the patrols up and running.”

For the next five days, all lessons were suspended, since no one seemed able to concentrate. Kayla sat alone on her sleeping bag working on sewing together a jacket of animal pelts left over from when the group hunted its meals.

The group often argued over whether they should eat meat or not. Kayla didn’t eat meat
anymore, suddenly finding she preferred nuts, berries, greens, and eggs. But she was glad some of them did eat meat and knew how to prepare the skins. She’d been told that the winter would be bitterly cold, and she didn’t want to be caught without a coat or jacket.

By August the patrol was dropped. The group felt that Kayla’s e-mail hadn’t put them in danger after all and was once again fully concentrated on perfecting their telepathic skills. Kayla kept her mind focused on Mfumbe, and each day her ability to “see” him increased.

When she closed her eyes and concentrated on an image of his face now, it soon gave way to a picture of him that she suspected showed her what he was doing. Sometimes she saw him in a car, sometimes on the side of a road.
Come to me
, she said in her mind.
I’m waiting for you. Keep coming toward me.

It took all her strength to contact him. Each time she’d sleep for nearly twelve hours afterward. She was overjoyed each time she felt the deep exhaustion because it proved to her that she’d really made contact. Eutonah encouraged her to sleep outside, “where you can be replenished by earth energy.”

Kayla was napping outside on the ground one August afternoon. She was right near the end of the forest just below the tree line, where large pines gave way to small ones. A branch snapped.
Still caught in sleep, she turned groggily toward the sound. The sun shone in her eyes. Black silhouettes moved toward her.

She came more fully awake and squinted into the sun. There were about six figures approaching and they were all dressed in the same style of jumpsuit.

Maybe they’re from another resistance group,
she thought, pulling forward to sitting. She repositioned herself out of the sun’s glare where she could see better. Her heart raced and she was suddenly energized by fear. The woman approaching her was Nedra Harris. She sprang to her feet and began to run, legs pumping hard.

A loud cracking sound exploded in her ear seconds before searing pain exploded her shoulder and shot through her entire body, throwing her to the ground.

Her shoulder!

She’d been shot in her shoulder.

Pressing her forehead to the ground, she waited for a second shot to finish her. But the group raced past, their footsteps pounding in her ears. They were running up toward the building on top of the mountain.

Then she heard another man approaching from behind. The pain coursing through her body made it impossible to turn. Her entire body tensed as she waited for a final bullet. She pressed her cheek to the cool dirt, shut her eyes, and waited.

The man put his hand on her waist, but with surprising gentleness. “Oh, my God,” he murmured.

Opening her eyes, she faced Mfumbe.

Her mouth opened with words of love and joy at seeing him. All that came out was a rush of air.

“It’s okay. It’s okay,” he whispered, looking for a way to lift her.

Shots rang out from the building above them; screams and shouting and more shots. Mfumbe slid his arms under her body and lifted. “Okay?” he asked.

She nodded, grinding her teeth against the crushing pain.

Someone in a jumpsuit scrambled down the mountaintop toward them. He held a rifle high. “Stop!” he ordered them.

“It’s Zekeal,” Mfumbe told her in an undertone as he kept moving slowly backward toward the trees. Kayla guessed he was hoping to disappear into the forest behind them.

Zekeal called to a suited figure up by the building. “I have them.” He turned back and aimed his gun at them. “Put her down, Mfumbe.”

“She’s badly hurt,” Mfumbe told him.

“Put her down and come with me. I’ll send some people down to get her.”

Kayla tried to object, but her voice was too dry and low for them to hear. She dug her fingers into Mfumbe’s arm and shook her head.

Mfumbe’s eyes darted between Kayla and
Zekeal as he lowered her carefully to the ground. “What happened to you?” he asked Zekeal. “I thought Dave Young was your guy. I thought you were going to stand strong against this.”

What was Mfumbe doing? Was he really letting Zekeal bring them in? He must think she was so injured it was his only choice. And he was probably right. What else could they do? But it seemed unreal that they had come this far only to be brought in by Tattoo Gen.

Zekeal kept his rifle trained on Mfumbe. “Shut up,” he replied. “Dave Young is on his way down, just like the rest of you. I tried to help you both, but it’s too late for that now.”

Up at the building, another gunshot fired. Someone screamed.

Zekeal glanced up, distracted by the sounds. In that moment, Mfumbe leaped at him, knocking Zekeal backward. His gun fell, bouncing once and discharging a shot as it hit the ground.

Kayla recoiled at the sound. This was her chance to escape, but pain had made her helpless, too weak to get up and run.

The rifle slid toward Kayla, stopping just out of her reach. She stretched toward it and the effort sent searing knifelike pain up her injured arm.

Zekeal and Mfumbe were locked in their fight, both tumbling over and over toward trees at the edge of the forest. Zekeal landed on top and began to punch Mfumbe, smashing him hard in the face.

Over them, a half-dead pine creaked in the breeze. A thick pine branch dropped brown needles on the fight below it. Kayla watched the branch dangle dangerously above the two of them.

She shut her eyes and envisioned the tree branch. With every bit of her remaining strength she saw the branch in all its detail.

She felt where it was weak, on the verge of splitting. She absorbed that image of weakness, made it a part of her.

That’s where she focused her own energy.

Her total energized being aimed itself at that weak spot in the branch — aimed at cracking it. Kayla tossed her head back with the effort of total focus. Her own power coursed through her as she concentrated the entire strength of her being on energy release.

With her head thrown back, she didn’t see the branch sail through the air, tumbling down through the levels of branches, end over end. But she heard the sickening crunch of bones breaking as it landed.