Trifariam, The Lost Codex (2012) (49 page)

Richard was getting ready to defend himself when Justin interrupted them.

“He’s right… our guests are not as mistaken as we originally thought.”

“What?!”

“When we managed to fuse the two fragments, it created a force field around itself which protected it constantly. We could only deactivate it when Mr. Oldrich touched it. However, that isn’t the most important thing that happened. There is something else, but you are not going to believe it.”

The Secretary seemed intrigued and, unlike the Director of the CIA, he seemed to want to give Justin the opportunity to explain. “Okay. Tell us everything.”

“A
fter carefully analyzing the
Trifariam
, we have come to the conclusion that it is incomplete. We believe that the triangle is a tool capable of controlling and channeling a kind of energy that is still unheard of.”

“Try explaining it a little clearer.”

“It is as if we found a cellphone in the street, but without battery. In other words, it is missing a power source to enable it to work.”

The Secretary was becoming slightly nervous. “What? And where is that energy source?”

“One of our research satellites that scour the Earth daily found, after the fusion of both fragments, two unusual and extremely intense forces located in different parts of the globe. Those forces vanished when Mr. Oldrich touched the
Trifariam
and unblocked the force field that was protecting it.”

“Do you know its precise location?”

“Yes, of course. The first electromagnetic field is in the Bermuda Triangle. We have narrowed the field down to a fifty-yard radius. It is at the bottom of the sea, at around - ”

“My god!” cried the Secretary of the Department of the Army, Mr. Clifford. “According to the information I received this morning from U.S.S. Makin Island, one of our most sophisticated military ships which was carrying out maneuvers thirty miles from the Triangle, they intercepted a distress call which was very weak and in Morse code, coming from that area. The message was extremely confusing when it reached us, and was largely unintelligible. As we later found out, a fishing boat was working in those waters when it was caught by surprise by an intense light coming from the bottom of the sea and went up until it got lost in the sky. All its communication systems, motors and electronic devices were down for several hours. Halfway through the morning, the light vanished and everything started working again.”

Justin couldn’t help but smile. That story confirmed his theory. “It’s the source. An electromagnetic field of those characteristics could even disable the whole electronic system of any boat in a radius of two hundred and fifty miles.

“And what about the second field? Where is it?” interrupted the Secretary of Defense.

“In the United Kingdom. We’ve pinpointed the exact location to its most well-known spot - Stonehenge.”

“Shit!” The Secretary slowly turned towards the two professors who were in a state of disbelief at what they were hearing. “Gentlemen, do you mind if I call you by your first names?”

“No, of course not,” they both replied.

“James, do you think that you have sufficiently recovered to be able travel?”

“Yes, I’m not in any pain at all,” he lied. After so long standing, his knee was starting to put up a fight and he needed to rest.

“Sir, if you will allow me to interrupt,” said the Director of the CIA. “I don’t think it is wise to get two civilians involved in this matter. They could cause us great problems”

“I don’t know if you remember that it is thanks to these two that we have the
Trifariam
in our power. We should be thanking them. Besides, I think they could be of great use to us when it comes to identifying the sources. And anyway, you mustn’t forget that James seems to be the switch that turns that artifact on and off.”

“But sir - ”

“There’s nothing more to say, Harold. It has been decided. Please pay attention, this is what we are going to do.” The nine people, including Justin, drew closer to the Secretary of Defense to listen to what he had to say. “We must first locate the terrorist group that intends to take control of the object. I want the NSA to investigate all kinds of communication. Use search parameters such as ‘object’, ‘Trifariam’, ‘triangular’, ‘power’, ‘order’, ‘Egypt’, ‘pyramids’, etc… The CIA will begin to investigate all those organizations or governments which would dare to use this object for their own ends, find out if any of them are aware of its existence. If any intervention is necessary, inform Mr. Richardson and the Army will act accordingly. We have to find them! They are in possession of privileged information that we don’t have, and they are a danger to the planet!”

The two professors nodded. They agreed with the first part of the plan.

“Secondly, Richard will accompany Mr. Clifford to one of our bases in the Bermuda Triangle. He will be given a suitable intervention team and together they will try to obtain the first part of the source. Meanwhile, James will visit Stonehenge together with a specialist team of scientists. Robert,” he said, looking at the Secretary of the Air Force, “provide them with the relevant security as well as the appropriate means for them to conclude their mission as soon as possible. Interrupt air and maritime traffic in the affected areas. Nobody, absolutely nobody can see us taking action.”

Robert immediately whispered something in Charly’s ear and he nodded.

The sound of knuckles rapping on the door made them all turn around to look. What could be so urgent that they dared to interrupt a meeting of such importance? When the door opened, the Secretary’s head of security stepped inside with a telephone in his hand.

“Sir, I told them that you were in a meeting but they insisted on speaking to you immediately.”

The Secretary frowned. “Who is it?”

“It’s your assistant, she insisted on talking to…”

Peter walked over to the telephone and practically snatched it out of his hands. “Yes. This had better be important because I’m in the middle of a pivotal meeting.”

The silence that fell over the room was nothing compared to the expression of disbelief which crept across Peter’s face as he listened to what his assistant had to say. It was a mixture of seriousness and terror.

“No way! How long are we talking?” he asked very nervously.

Just like all the others in the room, James seemed to want to understand Peter’s conversation but it was impossible. Something important must have been happening, indeed. His face was in shock.

“I’m in Area 51. Establish a secure line with the control center and send me the simulation right now, together with the results obtained.”

He then hung up the telephone, sat down in a chair and remained pensive and silent for over a minute.

“Sir, what’s going on?” William eventually asked.

Peter looked at him and could barely say a word. He finally took a sharp intake of air and spoke, trying not to stammer. “You have work to do. Let’s get to it.”

Everybody stood up and quickly left the room without saying a word. Obviously the Secretary didn’t want to share what had happened with his subordinates.

When the door closed and he was alone, he bowed his head, tensed all the muscles in his body and slammed his fist against the desk in rage, trying to let off steam.

I have to speak to the President. He has to know… God help us!

W
hen they left the meeting room, several members of security led William and Richard to one of the hangars from where they would take a private airplane to the U.S. naval base in the Bermuda Triangle, while another three soldiers escorted the rest of the officials to the exit.

Meanwhile, James accompanied Charly to his office, which was situated on the same floor on which the meeting had taken place.

Despite not knowing too well where they were going, James felt really excited. Very few civilians would ever have the opportunity to witness a fraction of what he had in their whole lives, and he had seen it all in just one day.

They soon came across a dark brown wooden door with several lighter grains stretching upwards. Judging by the security he had seen up until then, it had to be some kind of embellishment and it would undoubtedly be reinforced inside.

Charly typed in the security code and the system instantly gave an affirmative beep. Then they proceeded to enter.

It was a huge office, with large windows which looked outside and from which virtually any part of the complex could be seen. The lighting was perfect. For a moment, it reminded him of his University office and he was disappointed when he thought about them side by side; his was insignificant in comparison.

How can the whole complex possibly be seen from here?
he wondered.

Charly saw the look of disbelief on James’ face as he stared in astonishment at the window in front of him. His facial expressions showed that he knew what the next question would be.

“Isn’t this office so many feet underground?”

“Yes,” he replied, smiling.

“So… how can there be such a large window from which you can see every nook and cranny of Area 51?”

“Come over here and tell me what you can see.”

At that moment James was five yards from the window, so he moved forwards until he was about two feet away. It was at that precise moment that he realized what was actually going on. The huge gallery was in fact nothing more than an enormous, state of the art screen which had been installed behind a perfect replica of a window. It was truly incredible.

“The image you’re seeing is in real time, so it shows what is happening right now.”

“How did they do it?”

“It was very easy. We have installed a digital camera on our highest tower and it is constantly focused on the whole complex. It is directly connected to this huge television screen created by our scientists. The lighting inside the office varies according to the image displayed and simulates sunlight to perfection, and when you combine it with the clarity, resolution and contrast, it is simply unbelievable. Besides, it’s positioned according to precise geometry and with angles so accurate, they make it impossible for the human eye to determine whether it is looking at reality or fiction when over three feet away.”

“This means you can constantly keep an eye on everything that is going on in the complex.”

Charly smiled. “Exactly. I’m the Director of Area 51, one of the most inaccessible places in the world. I must always be aware of what is happening both inside and outside the facility. However, it’s not at all pleasant to think that your work revolves around an office hundreds of feet underground and without the least bit of contact with the outside. It can get claustrophobic at times.”

James scanned the rest of the office; the simulation of the gallery had left him disoriented. The office was around 650 square feet with clearly defined areas: a work station, complete with the latest computer equipment that he had never seen before; a library with hundreds of books; a living room with a kind of minibar and, a bathroom. It was sparsely decorated, the vast majority of adornments being medals, titles and decorations for his work. There was, however, a gigantic mirror around ten feet wide on one of the walls near the bathroom, most likely there so he could make himself look suitably smart for important visitors. Alongside was a stunning painting which depicted several airplanes at the moment of takeoff.

Why would he want such a huge mirror?
thought James.

There was virtually no photographs, except for one situated on his desk. It was an image of him when he was younger next to a woman and two small children; a boy and a girl. Despite having one of the most secretive jobs in the world, he still had time to raise a family?

“Would you like a drink?” he asked as he opened the door of the minibar. “They might take some time to get here.”

“Yes, please. Have you got a bottle of water? By the way, don’t you think we should call each other by our first names after recent events?”

Charly smiled again. He had been expecting him to ask for a glass of vodka or whisky. “What do you think of the facilities, James? I’ve never had the chance to ask a civilian. In fact, I think you are first to enter since I’ve been in control here.”

James sat down on one of the sofas. His host poured him a glass of water with two ice cubes.

“What is that?” he asked, pointing towards a kind of black helmet which was similar to one used for motorcycling, and was resting on the table in the room.

“It is the prototype for one of our latest projects. It’s a little damaged because I dropped it on the floor, but I think it still works. Try it and see for yourself!”

James seemed reluctant to do so, but he accepted under Charly’s insistence. He followed his instructions and as soon as he put it on, he pressed a red button on one of the sides and immediately thought of a place he had visited before. A red vertical beam of light instantly swept the screen from left to right before assuming its original position. Finally, it went back to black.

“What can you see?”

“Nothing,” he replied with disappointment.

“Damn, it still doesn’t work!” he cried, snatching the helmet off his head to try for himself. “It is an incredible invention. A few months ago, our neuroscientists were working on a superb experiment; it was a kind of man-machine interface which allowed the user to mentally communicate with humanoids. In order to do so, the helmet read the thoughts of the individual by measuring changes in electrical current and blood flow to the brain. The electrodes inside the helmet detect the impulses and read them. They then transmit the information to a robot which carries out the movements indicated by the thoughts. Up until now, the electrodes have been surgically implanted but we are using electroencephalography and infrared spectroscopy sensors.”

“And they managed to do it?”

“Of course,” he smiled. “But our ambition drove us even further. It certainly gives us an important advantage in military situations; imagine an army of robots controlled by the mind. The ability to read thoughts does indeed have endless applications. The invention would be very important when it comes to interrogating dangerous terrorists who pose a great threat to the nation. We would discover their intentions even if they didn’t want to share them with us. This helmet is the fruit of the investigation and it was working until yesterday.”