Journey Through the Mirrors (49 page)

Anita watched as more lightning struck. “I’m not going to wait to be called into service!” She darted off toward the circle of Stonehenge.

“Anita!” Britney yelled, rushing after her. “Anita!” The ground shook more violently. Britney lost her balance and fell.

Anita struggled to stay on her feet, as the earth convulsed beneath her. The ground continued to shake, and the lightning kept sweeping through the sky. She summoned all of her strength and will to reach the center of Stonehenge. Kneeling by one of the taller standing stones, she held Sumsari’s resonator in one hand and the tuning fork in the other. She struck the tuning fork and held it over the aperture of the resonator until she found the right spot, just as she had done at the cathedral. A harmonic began to form. She struck the tuning fork again, and then again. The harmonic grew.

56

There is no absolute truth or wisdom. If there were, the earth would still be flat and the wheel would still be made of wood. Truth and wisdom evolve along with all of you.

—THE CHRONICLES OF SATRAYA

NOVACON ISLAND, 3:01 P.M. LOCAL TIME, MARCH 26, 2070

An angle-vator car transported Logan, Valerie, and Chetan to the highest point inside the pyramid, just under the apex. They walked into the control center and saw the doctors sitting at two of the numerous workstations that surrounded the floating image of the pyramid. “Where is everyone?” Valerie asked.

“They all fled,” said the doctor dressed in black.

“Like Mr. Simon,” added the other doctor.

“I am Dr. Josef,” said the doctor dressed in black.

“I am Dr. Rosa,” said the doctor in white.

Chetan took a seat at one of the consoles. “I’m going to try to get the Cube online.”

An image of Sylvia was projected. “Who are those two?” she asked.

“The only two people in the world who know how this NovaCon device works,” Chetan answered.

“Well, they’d better turn it off fast. The chaos is spreading. Earthquakes
are now being reported in the south of England and throughout Africa.”

“We need your help, Doctors,” Logan told them. “You need to shut this thing down right now.”

“We do not . . .”

“Know how.”

“Then who does?” Valerie asked, incredulous.

The doctors looked at each other. Dr. Josef said, “Perhaps the one . . .”

“Who provided the harmonic,” Dr. Rosa said.

“Madu,” Logan said, turning to Valerie. “We need to find your father and Madu. They might be able to help us.”

Valerie walked over to the doctors. “We saw Simon speaking with my father, Alain Perrot, and his friend, a scientist named Madu Shata, when we entered the Hades Room. Are they being held somewhere on the island?”

“No, we spoke to them . . .”

“Via HoloPad.”

“Bring them up,” Valerie ordered. The doctors looked at each other. “Do it
now
.”

Dr. Rosa manipulated the controls on the HoloPad. The image of the rotating pyramid disappeared and was replaced by that of Mr. Perrot and Madu huddled together at the center of a violently shaking chamber, ducking flying bolts of electricity.

“Dad!” Valerie called out. “Where are you?”

Mr. Perrot and Madu quickly crawled closer to the imaging device. “Logan, Valerie,” Mr. Perrot said breathlessly. “Something terrible is happening. I fear we have somehow triggered the Menkaure Pyramid here at Giza.”

“It’s not you,” Logan said. “Using the information that you and Madu provided, Simon was able to activate the pyramid here on NovaCon Island in the Azores. But it’s wreaking havoc around the world.”

“My wife,” Madu said. “How is Nadine?”

Neither Logan nor Valerie had the heart to tell him of her betrayal. “She’s safe,” was all Logan could say. “Right now, we need your help to shut this device down.”

Madu nodded. “Did they follow my original design? Does the pyramid possess a radioactive core, and has it been built over a massive heat source?”

“Yes, we have a core . . .” Dr. Josef said.

“And an intense heat source,” Dr. Rosa added.

Madu shook his head. “It is as I feared. Adding the harmonic without first expunging the radioactivity and the heat source created more energy than the device can handle.”

More electrical discharges sped by outside the window. At the same moment, a bolt flew past Mr. Perrot and struck the ground nearby. The shaking at both locations increased.

“The ELF readings from around the world are way off kilter,” Sylvia said. “I can’t even get a reading on the Schumann resonance any longer.”

“Logan,” Madu said, “you must find a way to isolate the radioactive core and then insulate the pyramid from the heat source. It is the only way to reduce the additional ions and bring the device into equilibrium.”

“We have already isolated . . .” Dr. Josef said.

“The radioactive core,” Dr. Rosa added.

“The lead shielding . . .”

“Is already down.”

“Did you hear that?” Logan asked.

“Yes,” Madu replied. “You have to remove the heat source!”

Another series of discharges could be seen, this time almost reaching the ocean. Additional static electricity spiraled through the chamber where Mr. Perrot and Madu were trapped. The image started to break up, and then it vanished, suddenly replaced with the image of the NovaCon pyramid.

“Get them back!” Valerie cried.

Chetan tried. “Looks like the imaging device in the chamber was damaged. It’s not connecting now.”

Valerie turned to the doctors. “What do we do about the lava?”

The doctors looked at each other and then at Valerie. “We do not have . . .”

“A solution for that.”

Logan walked over to the window and watched as the storm raged outside. More lightning erupted from the pyramid.

“Oh, no!” Sylvia yelled. Everyone turned to her anguished image in the projection. “They’ve ordered a Black Star strike. They’re going to take out the island. You have twenty-two minutes to get out of there!”

“Who ordered that?” Valerie asked.

Director Sully walked into the frame. “I did, Agent Perrot. We have no choice.”

“What’s Black Star?” Logan asked.

“It’s a laser system,” Chetan said. “Part of some Akasha Vault upgrades that were deemed classified. This entire island could be vaporized along with everything on it.”

“You cannot . . .”

“Destroy the device.”

“We don’t have a choice,” Valerie said.

“I think what they mean,” Chetan said, “is that by blowing up the device, we would blow up the radioactive core and release a huge amount of radiation into the atmosphere.”

“Yes!” said Drs. Josef and Rosa at the same time.

“Chetan’s right,” Sylvia said. “We could take out half of Portugal and Spain if that core explodes. Not to mention the radioactive fallout that could blanket Europe and eventually all of us.”

“You still think that Catherine Bribergeld has your back?” Valerie said to Director Sully.

The director ignored her, saying, “You have twenty minutes to stabilize that device, Agent Perrot.” Sully walked out of the frame, leaving Sylvia by herself.

“Our only hope is to isolate the lava under the device,” Chetan said. “That is the only way to stabilize the device.”

“It can’t . . .”

“Be done.”

“Can we flood the lava pit with seawater? Would that cool it down sufficiently?” Valerie asked.

“I don’t see a way to get enough water down there,” Chetan said. “Even if we could, the steam that would result from the air trapped in the pit would blow the top off the pyramid like the lid off a pressure cooker.”

“Along with the core,” Sylvia added.

“A pressure cooker,” Logan repeated, thinking quickly. The others turned to him. “Instead of letting the air build up, what if we got rid of it? If we could get the air out of the lava pit, wouldn’t that cool the lava? That would suffocate it, right?”

“In theory, yes,” Sylvia said. “At the very least, the surface of the pit would cool, and the hotter lava would be trapped underneath.”

“But how do we do that?” Valerie asked.

“The nanites,” Logan said. “We drop them into the pit and activate them. Let the nanites eat up the oxygen. That’s what they do, right?”

There was a long pause. “It might work,” Chetan said, breaking the silence. “If they consumed all the oxygen, the lava would cool.”

“The dilemma is how to get the nanites into the pit.”

“You can use the access . . .”

“Hatch to the core.”

The doctors manipulated their controls and zoomed in on the lower portion of the pyramid.

“That’s the huge circular tube we saw when we came through the lava tunnel,” Valerie said. “Look at how it’s swinging back and forth.”

“It’s going to keep doing that until the rocking and rolling slows down,” Sylvia said.

“Inside the access tube . . .”

“Is another smaller tube made of lead.”

“It contains . . .”

“The nuclear core.”

“How are the charged ions exposed to heat?” asked Sylvia.

“There are thirty translucent conduits that . . . allowing ions to flow back and forth.”

“Among the conduits,” Dr. Josef said.

“Is an access door . . .”

“Leading . . .”

“To the lava source below,” Dr. Rosa concluded.

“We have closed . . .”

“The conduits.”

“No ions are . . .”

“Currently flowing.”

“Which is the strange part of all this,” said Chetan. “With the flow of ions stopped, there is no reason all this chaos should be happening.”

“There’s no way we’re going to get down there with the tube swaying like that,” Valerie said. “It’s like the pendulum on a grandfather clock!”

Suddenly, Sylvia’s look of alarm changed. “I’m picking up another strange reading from the south of England.”

“What kind of reading?” Valerie asked.

“Not really sure. It’s up in the four-hundred-thirty-two-hertz range, but I’m having a tough time isolating it. Whatever it is, it’s creating a massive standing wave that is spreading very quickly. It will hit you guys in three point four seconds.”

“Any idea if this is going to be good or bad?” Valerie asked.

“No idea,” Sylvia replied.

Everyone waited silently, anticipating whatever was about to hit them. To their surprise, the electrical discharges seemed to dissipate, and the shaking lessened.

“Look at the tube,” Chetan said. “It’s not swinging as much.”

“This might be our only shot to get down there,” Valerie said.

Logan looked at the doctors. “Do you have any more of those nanites lying around?”

57

Have you ever looked at yourself through someone else’s eyes? How confident are you that you will like what you see?

—THE CHRONICLES OF SATRAYA

NOVACON ISLAND, 3:16 P.M. LOCAL TIME, MARCH 26, 2070

Logan wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“We have fourteen minutes before Black Star is activated.” Chetan’s voice came through Valerie’s PCD.

Valerie led the way down the fifty-meter access tube to the inner chamber of the radioactive core. Logan followed, his backpack slung over his shoulder. They descended a spiral stairway winding around the inner wall. As they descended, they could see the lead shielding of the nuclear core. The swaying of the tube, caused by the instability of the NovaCon pyramid device, slowed their descent.

“Is the standing wave still hitting us?” Valerie asked.

“Yes,” Chetan answered. “Sylvia says it’s still present.”

“Let’s hope it stays that way until we can get these nanites deployed.” Valerie stepped off the stairs onto a metal lattice platform. Logan stood next to her. Cabinets and locked supply boxes lined the wall.

“The doctors say that you have to crawl under the lead shielding to gain access to the hatch,” Chetan said. “Once you have the hatch open,
activate the seventy-nine point six-five-seven signal by pressing the button on the device the doctors gave you. The moment the signal is on, you need to drop the nanites into the lava and then close the hatch.”

“Did they say to crawl under this thing?” Logan asked, staring at the massive nuclear core only about a half meter above the platform.

Valerie dropped to her knees and looked underneath it. Logan did the same. The core was held in place by thirty of the translucent glass tubes, which the doctors had described, each a quarter meter in diameter. At the center, Logan and Valerie saw a small blinking red light. “That must be the door,” Valerie said.

“The doctors say that those support tubes are what allows the radiation from the core to interact with the heat from the lava,” Chetan said. “They are closed right now, but they are still very hot. You will have to make your way around them to get to the center where the hatch is located.”

“It’s like a rat’s maze,” Logan said, trying to make out a clear path.

“Hand me the nanites and the switch,” Valerie said. “I’ll crawl under.”

“I’ll do it,” Logan said. He put his backpack on the metal platform, unzipped it, and removed the glass vial containing the nanites and a small activation switch that the doctors had given him. He put both items in his shirt pocket. “You keep an eye on this,” he said, handing Valerie his backpack.

She grunted as she swung it over her shoulders. “What the heck do you have in here? Rocks?”

“Just all my important stuff,” Logan said, lowering himself to the floor and crawling under the core.

“The doctors say there is a silver handle that will open the hatch,” Logan heard Chetan say through Valerie’s PCD.

He maneuvered his way toward the center. His right knee hit one of the heat tubes. “Son of a—” he yelled. “The doctors weren’t kidding. These tubes are hot.”

“The doctors say that you will have to watch out for the initial blast of heat when you open the hatch,” Chetan said.

Logan methodically made his way around the heat tubes, taking great care not to touch them.

“How’s it going?” Valerie called out. “Not to add any pressure, but we have about nine minutes before Black Star is activated.”

“I’m almost at the hatch now,” Logan said. He was about to grab the hatch’s silver handle when Valerie called out again.