The Decrypter: Secret of the Lost Manuscript (Calla Cress Techno Thriller Series: Book 1) (25 page)

She placed a hand on her chest.  Slowly, the pieces started to form in her mind.  They had been in a field or was it a valley?  She remembered a tall warrior-like man
? 

The thing! 

Watcher!

He had fought her until she’d overpowered him.  How had she managed to do that? 

And then.

Blank. 

She could not recall any more.

Nash meandered to her side and knelt on the floor by the couch. 

Concern in his face caused his eyebrows to arch. 

His lips tightened, revealing a single dimple on the right side of his cheek. 

He could tell she was questioning her surroundings.

“You just escaped a nasty bullet,” Nash said.

“Bullet?”

Relief flooded his eyes.  “Yes, a bullet.”

Attentive now, Calla fought to make her heavy limps move. She lumbered upward and relaxed her shoulders.  “How?”

Nash settled in a seat beside her.  “The bullet knocked you senseless, but—”

He stopped - waiting for a response.

“And?”

He aimed to reveal a little at a time, in case she could not absorb the entire story after her traumatizing ordeal.  “You held the rock to your heart,” he said glancing at the carbonado.

Calla’s eyes begged for more information.  “Yes?”

He hesitated once more and set a calm hand over hers.  “You then…disappeared for a good several seconds.  The next thing I knew, I caught you before you hit the ground with the stone still held to your heart.”

Calla took in every word of his story, trying to connect them with the pieces that were still hazy in her memory.

Nash managed an encouraging smile.  “I think it saved you. You were gone, outta sight with enough time for the bullet to steal right past you?”

Could it be true?

Jack joined them, standing a few feet away.  She’d forgotten he’d been at arm’s length the entire time.

Calla glanced round the cramped room.  “Where are we?”

Nash rose slowly.  “I called Jack. We need his help.”

Jack held a peculiar stone in his hand, balancing it between his two hands.

Nash fought desperately to remain still. “After I saw what the stone had done by shielding you from that bullet and changing the chemistry of your body, I knew we were not dealing with an ordinary carbonado.  Jack can help us find out what this thing is.”

Nash was right.  Jack could probably conduct geology experiments to see where the stone had come from. 
But, most importantly, what will science tell us? Is the stone a danger to us? 

Jack threw Calla a grin as he slid off a mini torch from his head. a white lab coat and latex gloves.  “Welcome to my humble abode.  This is my private lab, in my basement.  I come here to work on things I don't wish others to know about.

Calla scanned the room.  “Impressive, Jack.  It takes a bullet to my heart to get an invitation here.”

Jack smirked.  “I’ve done a few initial tests on the stone.”

“What have you found?” Calla asked.

“Carbonados, or black diamonds, have always been a mystery, even to the scientific mind.”

“What do you mean?”

“
Some researchers have a theory about their origin.”

Nash interposed.  “It’s literally… out of this world.”

Calla’s shoulders slouched.  “I’m listening.”

“Researchers are still trying to figure out where they came from.  Normal diamonds, such as the ones jewelers work with, come from deep within the earth.”

Calla’s eyes lit up.  “Yes, and they came to the surface through two volcano eruptions that happened about one billion years ago,” she said.

“That’s right.  What we have here is different,” Jack said.  “Carbonados are older than three and a half billion years.  They must’ve come to Earth in a non-conventional way.”

“What way?”

“Also,” he added.  “Most diamonds can be found all over the world.  Carbonados are only found in Brazil and Africa, with the exception of this one.”

Nash took the stone in his hand.  “One theory is that black diamonds came to Earth during an asteroid event that struck when the two continents were still one.”

Calla wrestled the theory.  “Isn’t that what ISTF documents as well as the NASA reports?”

“Correct.  The only difference is they don’t have studies on this stone,” Nash added.

Jack’s eyes lit with excitement.  “Not only is it bullet proof, but so far from what I've seen, the compositions are not present on our planet.  It’s quite remarkable.”

“Is there more?” she said.

Nash interjected.  “Carbonados have hydrogen in them, suggesting the diamonds formed in a unique environment, like a star.”

Calla tilted her head.  “So this stone is not from Earth?”

“Nope.  If I gather correctly, when examined under infrared radiation, I found a spectrum similar to a type of diamond that exists in space,” Jack said.

Calla breathed heavily.  “So what are you saying exactly?”

Jack strode the length of the tiny, windowless lab.  “From the initial research I've done, there’re three explanations we can use.  One, this stone is formed from the original solar nebulae, or interstellar dust cloud.  Two, its produced by the high temperatures and pressures of the Earth’s mantle or three, it’s the result of an interplanetary impact.”

“Are you serious?” Calla said,

“Yes, and the funny thing is scientists don’t agree on any of the three theories,” Jack said.

Calla peered from Nash to Jack as if to determine if she should believe them.  “There must be an explanation.”

She’d regained her senses now and was fully alert.  These were her two best friends.  They wanted only what was best for her.

They were dead serious.

Jack shook his head.  “Not really.  Even if the source of carbonados is still not proven, I think it’s amazing that portions of a cooled star could survive, travel across billions of miles to Earth and be preserved for us to find.”

“Hmm—”

“They’re literally
falling stars
!”

Calla threw Jack a wearied smile, grateful he’d gone through all that trouble in such a short time.  “Okay, what else have you discovered?”

“There are significant nuclear materials contained in this rock.  But what amazes me is that the materials inherent in the stone are non-toxic and are off the charts,” Jack continued.

“What materials are those?” Nash asked.

“I don’t know yet.  This baby has enough juice to power fifty spacecrafts.  My program couldn’t read all of it.  I think we could be looking at a substance from the outer galaxies, such as a mineral or a gem.”

Nash thought for a moment.  “But isn’t that what Operation Carbonado is all about?  The only reason these five governments would get behind this is because of the potential for nuclear energies.”

Jack moved back to a computer screen on the desk in the far corner.  “Operation Carbonado is full of holes.  First of all, the reports say that a star exploded and delivered these gems to Earth by an asteroid.  But, how come none like this have been found?  What are the reports based on?”

Nash gripped the back of his neck.  “That’s not entirely true.  NASA has a different take on it. According to classified NASA reports, a geologist from Iowa International University analyzed chemical compositions of some volcanic stones found in Brazil and the Central African Republic.  Similar I guess to this one.”

Their eyes fell on the carbonado.

“Like Jack said, the geologist bounced infrared light off polished slivers of the stone, and the resulting scales didn’t match signatures for earthly hydrogen and nitrogen,” added Nash.

“Why’s that?” asked Calla.

 Nash took a deep breath. “Because they mimic those found in intergalactic space.”

* * *

5:21 P.M.

“Whether it’s from space or not, as far as I’m concerned, each is entitled to their opinion.  I just want to know what my parents were involved with,” Calla said twiddling her right ear stud.  “The operation reports also say that a similar stone was found in the sixties, but there is no clear evidence of it.  No pictures, no lab reports.  Where can we find more about the asteroid theory?”

“Probably from the person who compiled the Operation Carbonado report.  I mean the original findings,” Nash said.

Jack checked his screen and typed in a few words.  “That’s classified and needs higher clearance than I have, all the way up to Mason.”

She hovered for a moment, not having totally regained her equilibrium.  “Where’s the Deveron?  I want to know more about what Watcher meant when he said he’d waited for me for a long time.  Why me?”

Nash handed her the manuscript and the journal.  “Calla, you are lucky to be alive.  Are you sure you are up to this?”

Calla took both items in her hands.  “I’m fine.”  She tried to ease his anxious look with a weak smirk.  “I think there’s a connection between what I learned in Berlin and what this stone and manuscript are leading us to.  We need to hang on to these, and shouldn’t let anything we learn out of this circle.”

She pored into both of them.  “I need you to swear.  This is dangerous for all of us.  Can I count on you to see this through to the end?”

Jack glanced at Nash’s pensive face and gave her a cordial wink. “The commander-in-chief has spoken.  We’re with you on this,” he said.

Calla labored over to Jack’s work desk and spread out both the journal and manuscript.  “Okay, so why did Watcher give me this stone?  He said we only have a few days from now to get the other two, and muttered something about their strengths expiring if not reunited.  What other carbonados?”

She glared at the porous mass of fine-grained rock, now burrowed in her hands.  She rotated it in the light, and it gave off a prism of colored beams that fell on her soft face.

Jack eased the stone from her hands.  “I want to do some more research on this.  I’ll head back to the office labs and see what I can find.”

“Be careful,” Nash said.

“Righto!” said Jack as he paced to the door, slipped on a jacket and a leather flat-cap. “I’ll see you guys later,” he said, shutting the door behind him.

Nash turned to Calla as she sank into the seat at Jack’s work desk.  He watched her silently scrutinize the manuscript and then the journal, unaware of his stare. 

He had on several occasions thought about a romantic relationship with her. He leaned slightly towards her as she raised her head. 

“I was quite impressed with you in Oxford.” His smile, though with shut lips, spread slowly.  “Where did you learn that defensive shoulder crank?  That’s some skillful, martial arts move.”

Calla backed away from him until she felt the cushion of the chair against her back.  “I don’t know where that came from.”

“You held your own, especially with your grip of death on Watcher.  You could really handle yourself.”

Calla turned her attention back to the screen. 

“Calla?”

She turned to face him. “Yes?”

He set a hand on her chin.

She winced with a sudden shiver of apprehension. Calla had consistently warded off any romantic approach he’d attempted and as a result, he’d withdrawn his advances allowing her the distance she insisted on having. 

Nash edged nearer and pushed back a wisp of hair that had fallen across her eyes. “Calla. I—”

Her skin warmed against his gentle touch as his hand, gently insistent, moved slowly over her forehead and down her temples, before cradling her head in his hands. His face betrayed a hint of infatuation. “I thought I’d lost you.”

She felt herself shrink from the intensity of his affection. “You didn’t.”

His intoxicating touch felt strangely welcome, even though she’d avoided these feelings for as long as she’d known him.

When he leaned in to kiss her, all he got was a flushed cheek.

Not wanting to trust the emotions welling inside, she instinctively reached out and removed his hands. “Thanks for being there for me yesterday.”

Nash realized he’d overstepped an invisible, yet apparent boundary. He swiveled slowly and turned away. 

An awkward silence engulfed the room only broken by the sound of an incoming mail on Jack’s computer. 

Calla turned her attention back to the manuscript.

Nash slowly lifted his head. “Why’s this so important to you?”

Calla refused to look him in the eyes.  “Nash, I've been searching for my parents and my identity for a long time.”

Should she reveal what Taiven had told her?  She’d still not registered who or what Taiven was.  Nothing seemed logical anymore except the yearning in her to continue the journey she’d begun. 

In an attempt to draw him in, she slowly reached for his upper arm. “I can’t tell you how I know, but my parents worked on this manuscript and one of them, or both, were employed by British Secret Intelligence.”