King of the Dark Mountain (14 page)

“Okay, I’ll text directions to my house to this number.”

“No, don’t. I will call you again and you can send it to that number. I bought a bunch of disposable phones. I don’t know if it will do any good, but I’m trying to find ways to keep them from knowing every move I make.”

“Okay, go ahead and call me again and I’ll text the information. Rent a car and use cash if you can.”

“I have that part figured out. I’ll get off now. Thank you so much, Mr. Griffin.” The phone line went dead. He waited for the phone call and when it came he sent the information. Then he put in another call.

“Karina, hi this is Ted. Yes, she’s doing a little better, stable at least. You asked me if there was anything you could do. It would help a lot if you could come by the hospital this evening and sit with Irena. I’m sorry about the short notice, but something unexpected has come up. Oh that’s so wonderful. It will mean so much to Irena to see you, if she does happen to come round. They’re saying she could come out of it at any time, but they don’t want to force it. She’s going to be in a very fragile emotional state, of course. We just have to give her all the love and support that we can muster to help her to get back. Alright fine, thanks again so much.”

His sister-in-law showed up within the hour. They embraced. She was smaller than Irena, and seemed to almost evaporate inside his arms. She looked up at him with large frightened eyes, “I just can’t believe she would do a thing like this,” she said, stepping away from him and digging a Kleenex out of her coat pocket.

“I know it’s a shock, but you know she’s been on that antidepressant medication for years. It must have stopped working.”

“I talked to her on the phone yesterday and she never said anything about feeling depressed. She sounded upbeat if anything.”

“They say that they often do once they make the decision to go through with it. So when you talked she didn’t say anything unusual?”

“No, she said you were working on some research that you were very excited about. She was planning to go to Mexico in a few weeks, suggested I come along. Does that sound suicidal to you?”

“That is odd that she would talk about a trip.”

“There was another odd thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Someone came to the door while we were on the phone; she came back on and sounded very serious.”

“Did she say who it was?”

“No, she just said some men were there and wanted to talk to her about your work.”

“About my work?”

“Yes, do you know who it might have been?”

“No, my work is very confidential. That doesn’t sound right.” He thought for a moment, and then he drew Karina aside. “I’m meeting with someone this evening who might have some light to shed on some of this. Just don’t discuss it with anyone until you hear from me.” Karina shook her head. “I know I can count on you. Irena says you’re the practical one in the family.”

Karina smiled, “Irena’s the practical one, but go ahead; I’ll stay here until I hear from you. Darren’s coming later. Is it okay if I fill him in on some of this?”

“Yes, but please don’t talk to anyone else about it, I’ll get back here as soon as I can.”

Karina nodded, “Ted, try not to worry, I’m sure it will all work out in the end.”

“The same goes to you. Maybe when Irena’s feeling better and this project of mine is done the four of us can go down to Mexico together.”

“That sounds nice,” she managed a little smile.

“Good,” he gave her a quick hug and headed for his car. On the way, his phone rang again. “Oh hi Ian, yes Irena’s stable. I know I need to get with Ellie, but something else has come up. Do you know if anyone from the Theta project would have had any reason to pay a visit to Irena? That’s what I thought, but someone paid her a visit, claiming to have information about my work. Can you check your sources and make sure. I really don’t know who it was. All I know about it is that it was a couple of men. Now she’s in the hospital and it seems to me there could be a connection. I know, I know, that’s why we have to check it out to make absolutely certain. Okay, let me know if you find anything out. I have something I have to take care of as soon as possible. Right, thanks.”

He put the cell phone away and got into his SUV. It was evening and on the drive to his house, the stars were very bright. Orion wouldn’t be visible for several hours, but he had an irrational urge to pull over and scan the night sky to look for it anyway. He stifled the urge, feeling suddenly very old and tired.  When he got home, the house felt particularly empty, almost sepulchral.

He turned on some music to banish the feeling. He didn’t bother to check to see what was queued to play. Irena normally kept some obscure folk music, related to her most recent trip abroad loaded up. This time however he was pleasantly surprised to hear the opening bars of
Magical Mystery Tour
. Of course they were Beatles fans like everyone, but did not play old albums ordinarily. He wondered what had gotten into Irena to dig it out of the digital pile. They had a very good stereo system, but he still thought he could detect something tinny in the way the digital version sounded. Sometime in the near future, he intended to invest in an old fashioned turntable and go back to vinyl. Yet in spite of everything, he could still detect the way Lennon’s voice caressed the vowels in the lyrics like no one else ever could or ever would, he thought. He poured himself a glass of Scotch and sat down on the sofa to listen.

When “Strawberry Fields Forever” began to play, the doorbell rang. He glanced at the clock on the wall; surely Mrs. Ewing hadn’t made it all the way from New York City in an hour and a half. He went to the door and opened it to find a stout, determined looking woman staring at him. “Mrs. Ewing?” he asked. She nodded, “Please come in.” She followed him into the living area. He paused the music and asked her to have a seat. She plunked down on the sofa. “How in the world did you manage to get here so quickly?”

“My uncle has a private plane. There’s a small airport in your town in case you haven’t noticed. I took a cab from there.”

“This is excellent. So can I get you something to drink?”

“No, no thank you. I just want to tell you what I know about those people who took my husband.”

She began the story about the episode in Budapest. “They didn’t even give us a chance to speak to each other before they took him. I had gone shopping to pick up some things for our kids. When I got back to the hotel room, they were waiting. They told me, that if I cooperated, Richard would be able to return in a few months. This was almost a year ago, now. I’m really afraid that they’re never going to release him.”

“You said that he was thinking of contacting me before this happened. Do you know why exactly?”

“He said he thought you were someone who understood some big change was coming. He said he thought you might even be someone who had started this big change. I thought he was joking. After all, you’re a writer, he’s a writer, you deal in imaginary worlds.”

“Did he give you any details about the changes coming?”

“Not really. Before Richard’s work began to really take off, we struggled a lot. I kept things going so he could keep working. I believe in my husband’s talent as a writer, but to me, it’s just a game he plays in his mind. I’m sure you know what I mean.”

“Yes, that’s the usual way of things, but not always.”

“What do you mean?” She clenched her hands and took a deep breath, “I really must get a grip on this, Mr. Griffin. My whole world’s been thrown into chaos, apparently because some group has confused my husband’s fiction with something real. How can that even be possible?”

“I can’t speak for your husband. I’m sorry to say that I’m not familiar with his work, a situation I will certainly remedy shortly. However, I will tell you some things about my work and perhaps in that way we can come to understand what is going on with your husband.”

“Do you think we’ll be able to get him away from those people?”

Ted thought of Ellie talking about those people who held her brother, in the same tone of voice. “Have they let you speak to him since they took him?”

She shook her head, “No, but they recently sent me something, a digital file of what they say is his most recent work.”

“But it’s not his work?”

“No, if you didn’t really know my husband’s work, you would be fooled. They will probably fool most of his fans, though he has certain hard core enthusiasts who will not be fooled. They will recognize it for what it is.”

“Which is?”

“Some cynical attempt to promote ideas that are the polar opposite of everything my husband has always stood for in his work.”

“Do you mean political ideas?”

“My husband isn’t really a political writer, except in the sense that all writers have a world view, but he has always written books that were faithful to the idea of ordinary people being the real heroes. In this crap they want me to help them pawn off on the public, it might as well have been written by Ayn Rand. It glorifies some rich jackass; the ordinary characters are hollow shells. It sticks to some of the formulas that made his work popular, but they’re meaningless within the context of the plot they’ve created.”

“And you’re sure it’s not just a case of a writer who’s veered into more conservative waters due to getting older?” At her appalled reaction to this question, he added, “I know, I’m just asking to make sure.”

“My husband has gotten more radical over time, not less. No, this is something they’ve done to him.”

“Okay, I will tell you what I can about the work I’ve been doing. Maybe it will help us to understand what’s happening with your husband.” For the next hour, Ted went into as much detail as he was able about his life’s work over the previous decade. Samantha Ewing listened carefully, hoping to hear something that would give her some new understanding of her husband’s abduction. After he was done he said, “I’m sorry Mrs. Ewing, but I have some really urgent matters pressing. You are free to spend the night here, if you like, but I have to go. There’s a guest bedroom upstairs. It should have everything you need to be comfortable.”

“There’s no reason for me to stay. I’ll call a taxi to take me to a hotel in town. I am glad we got to meet. I’ll send you a digital copy of that book they forged. It might give you a sense of what these people are about.”

“Yes do that, I’ll send you an email address that you can send it to. That’s probably the best way. I’ll try to get my hands on your husband’s other works when I can.”

“He’s fairly prolific; I would recommend the early books. He was so full of hope in those days. We both were.” She took a deep breath and shook her head to control the tears. She stood up and Ted walked her to the door.

“Thanks for coming all this way. I’ll drop you off at the best hotel in town. It’s not fancy but you should be comfortable.”

“I’d appreciate that,” she said. “You know there was one thing you said that struck me,”

“What’s that?”

“You talked about galactic energy and that was something those people mentioned when they came to see me. They said, ‘your husband is going to help us harness galactic power.’ I thought it was crazy, I mean that sounds so wildly grandiose, doesn’t it?”

“That’s interesting. Did they say how?” She shook her head, “Well you have my number if you think of anything else they said.” They drove the few miles into town in relative silence. Ted was thinking about his project and planned to call Ian as soon as he dropped off Samantha Ewing at the hotel. Samantha was thinking about checking in with her son and daughter. They were about a mile outside of town when they were suddenly confronted by a vehicle stalled in front of them. Ted had to slam on his brakes to avoid hitting it.

Some men approached the car, and Ted turned on the automatic locks. He tried to back up but suddenly there was another vehicle behind him. The lights in the rear view mirror were glaring. A man came to the window and told him to follow. “I think we may have to follow them,” he said quietly to Samantha. She nodded. Ted pulled onto the highway when the car moved on out. He was still boxed in by the two vehicles. They continued past the few stop lights inside Quentin onto the freeway outside of town.

The car in front of him pulled onto a side road and Ted thought about gunning it and making a run for it, but the car behind him pulled in front of him and another vehicle appeared behind him. There were obviously a lot of them. Reluctantly, he pulled off onto the side road. There were several vehicles lined up beside the road. He pulled off behind the last one and waited. Nothing happened for a long few moments, and then there was the sound of a helicopter passing over head. It went away then someone came to the window. 

Ted lowered it a little so he could hear what the man wanted to say. “Just stay put for now. We’ll tell you when we want you to get moving again,” he said.

“Who are you and why are you holding us?’ Ted demanded.

“It doesn’t matter. You will be free to go in a little while,” he said. Ted rolled the window back up.  Samantha put her hand over his on the steering wheel.

He gave her a weak smile, that she probably couldn’t see, but she let out a sigh. There was the sound of another helicopter far in the distance and then silence.

Chapter Thirteen

Ellie was still trying to figure out the last page of the notes Ted had left when Ian buzzed her room. “Please return to Mr. Griffin’s room,” he said through the surround sound intercom. His voice coming from all directions was a little unnerving, especially after sitting in silence for several hours. She got out of her chair, ran to the bathroom, and then went to the elevator. There were a few other people running around in the halls. They looked perturbed, and were speaking in low voices to each other. Since she wasn’t wearing a badge, she wondered what they made of her being there. None of them seemed to pay her any mind, however. In Ted’s room, she found Ian pacing back and forth in front of the wall where he had loaded the image of Orion’s sword.

“Good grief is that real color?” she asked.

“Yes, it has started. We think this is the final phase due to the intensity of the cloud colors. We’re flying blind here, so we will just have to try to figure it out as we go. Did you get through all of Ted’s notes?”

“Most of them. He seems to think that the most important part of all of this is the position of the receptor and activator on the platform. He gives very specific instructions about what each of those should do. I guess I’m the receptor in the model. I don’t see how in the world we can get it done without Ted. It’s clear from these notes that he expected to play the role of the activator.”

“Well we don’t think that’s going to be possible now. We have a plan B that we want to explain to you.” He changed the image on the wall to a scene on a mountaintop.

“That isn’t this mountain is it?”

“No, it’s at another facility set up on the other side of the world. It’s getting arranged so that a different activator will stand in place there, while you play the role of receptor here. We think it might even work out better in the long run. If all goes well, we might be able to link the mountain chain there to this one here and light up the whole planet with this energy.”

“Does Ted know about this?”

Ian shook his head. “There was no time to fill him in. This situation with his wife has thrown a huge wrench in all the works.”

“I wish I could talk to him.”

“Listen Ellie, we don’t have time to delay. There’s a lot riding on this. We have to get you prepared to go up to the platform. The other party will be in place in about two hours. We want you to go inside the crystal cube in the auditorium and go into a deep relaxation state. The platform needs a few slight adjustments, to be aligned for optimal performance. Now we have to set it up to align not only with the stellar energy but also with the foreign site.”

“Where exactly?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Where is the other site exactly?”

“Oh some country you’ve never heard of, in a spur off the Ural mountains. It doesn’t matter. All you need to know is what Ted put in those notes. We’ve loaded an auditory program to assist you, based on information he already gave us. Before you go into the chamber, we want you to go have a light meal. It might be awhile before you will be able to eat again.”

“I’m too nervous to eat. Did you find out how Irena is doing?”

“I spoke to Ted and he said she was stable.”

“So do you think there’s any chance he can make it back here for this? I would really prefer to have him around, even if he’s not participating.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t think so. He wouldn’t be in any emotional state to participate I’m afraid.”

She nodded. “Alright, I’ll go grab something to eat. I would like to speak to him if you can reach him.”

“I doubt that it will be possible, but I’ll try,” he said. He turned back to look at the wall, which once again showed the Orion nebula. “We’ll keep watching for any further changes in this thing.”

She left him to go to the cafeteria. She was given a salad and a glass of water. She went to the little café and had a seat. There was still a lot of buzzing activity around. In the midst of it, she began to feel strangely calm. She chewed the spinach leaves and tomatoes slowly and focused closely on the texture and taste. She felt strangely fatalistic; everything was coming to a climax now. Ted’s work was going to pay off, even if he wasn’t going to be there for the final stage. She hoped that she would be able to play her part well and complete it for him. While she was finishing her meal, a woman approached her table.

“Hi … Ellie?” she asked. Ellie nodded. The woman was wearing the standard beige uniform, her dark wavy hair was pulled away from her face, and she had intense blue eyes, which were staring at her with great enthusiasm. “My name is Sara Swanson. May I join you?”

“I don’t have very long.”

“Yes, I know. They’ve asked me to assist you in any way possible for the big event. It’s all very exciting isn’t it?” Ellie smiled and shrugged. “You should feel very proud; this is going to change everything.”

“That’s what everyone keeps telling me.”

“It will. It’s been a long process, but we’re approaching the finish line now. You’ve seen the clouds inside the nebula, what they’re doing right?”

“Yes, I guess that’s the sign that some type of radiation is going to get released.”

“Not just radiation, but something unknown on this planet in ages.”

Ellie smiled, “It’s all so hard to take in.”

“We want you to feel as relaxed as possible before you go up. Is there anything I can get you?”

“No, I think I just have to go ahead and do this.”

“Okay then. We think it would be best if you go take a shower. There are some robes that you can wear we left in your room.” Ellie gave her a bewildered look. “Oh I know, it seems a tad bit strange, but the material is supposed to help the process of focus along.”

“You’re right it does sound strange, and I would feel weird putting on some kind of costume.”

“Please humor us in this. I’m sure Professor Griffin mentioned the ceremonial aspect of all this in the notes we gave you.”

“Did he? I don’t remember, but I didn’t get through all of them. I’ll take a look and see what he says. Thanks,” she said and got up. “A shower sounds really great right now.”

Sara stood up. “I met with your brother before he went over.”

“Really? Did you tell him that you were sending him to the other side of the planet?”

“No, I wasn’t allowed to do that. I just want to tell you that I admire what your family is doing for Project Theta; you’ll be mentioned in the history books.” She extended her hand. Ellie took it and gave her a brief hand shake. Sara smiled. “If you need anything just let me know,” she said, pulling a cell phone out of her pocket. “My number is listed under Sara.” Ellie took the phone. Sara turned briskly around and disappeared into the larger cafeteria space. She was soon engaged in conversation with a man on the far corner of the room. Ellie slipped the cell phone into her jacket pocket and went to the elevator. 

Her sense of calm was no longer there. Something about the conversation with Sara bothered her. She had sent Hez to the other side of the world. That was the same expression Ian had used to describe the other facility that was now in play for the big event. Ted had said Hez had been sent to spy on a competing entity, but what if it was the same entity? What if they were all being duped by some megalithic corporation, which might have designs they couldn’t even begin to fathom?

Ted thought the other entity was up to no good, but how much did he really know about the true intentions of this setup? It bore all the hallmarks of hundreds of other governmental or quasi-governmental agencies she had encountered. She couldn’t distinguish between the people rushing around her now in their beige uniforms from any other group of bureaucrats she had encountered in her life. Ted had already admitted that they were at least cooperating with that other group. He had also deliberately misled her about that in the beginning. So what if there was more he wasn’t telling her, what if the bad guys were not separate at all?

The thought made her head spin and she began to feel nauseous. She felt that she was completely lost inside a maze. Every time she thought she had broken free into some certain space, it dissolved into something else. It seemed impossible to know how to proceed with everything so unclear. She pressed her temples and said out loud, “I will run and not grow weary,” and the sound of her own voice had the effect of someone else speaking, a wise someone who could calm her down. Remembering her last words to Hez made her feel a tiny bit connected to him as well.

When she got to her room, she found a couple of pale green garments lying across the bed. Those certainly didn’t seem to relate to anything required by an ordinary bureaucratic system. She touched the fabric, it was gossamer and shimmering. It consisted of a sleeveless floor length dress and a matching floor length dress with sleeves. The latter had a fine brocade of flowers woven into it. Beside the bed were some shoes that reminded her of ballet slippers. She hadn’t worn a dress in years. She touched the fabric again; maybe the exotic dress would assist her getting into the right frame of mind for stellar tuning or whatever they called it.

She threw off her clothes and got into the shower. The nagging doubts sparked by the conversation with Sara returned. If something was amiss about the setup, she didn’t see how she could back out now.  Whatever misgivings she had, she decided to let them go down the drain along with the hot water. If she was going to be any good for the approaching task, she had to believe that it was going to result in some good. Even if most of the people on the project didn’t inspire her with much confidence, Ted’s work always had. That was just going to have to be enough for now.

*

While Ellie was reflecting on project Theta in her shower, her brother was getting bundled out of bed. “They want us up and atom. Come on, Hez,” Richard was saying. Hez came out of his really deep sleep in a panic.

“What’s going on?” he demanded, staring at Ewing’s pale face.

“We have to get prepared. Something’s up. Go on and get dressed and come over to my room,” Richard replied. Hez staggered to the bathroom. He splashed some water on his face, glanced into the mirror and saw that he looked as pale as Richard. They weren’t seeing much daylight after all. He took a few more minutes in the bathroom and then crossed the hallway to Richard’s room. There were a couple of men there, including Melton.

“Mr. McCane, your hour has come,” he said. “Please have a seat. We are going to give you very specific instructions on what you are to do. You will have to follow them precisely.” Hez sat down on the sofa. He shot a look at Richard, whose face was drawn and tired. He wondered what time it was, or what day for that matter.

“First of all, we have to explain that part of your function in the proceedings is ceremonial. Because of that aspect, we have brought you some clothes to wear.” A man brought out something that looked like a curtain draped over his outstretched arms. He placed them carefully over the back of Ted’s sofa.

“There’s no way in hell I’m putting on a dress for you or any of your buddies,” Hez yelled.

“They’re robes, Hez, it’s like a priest thing,” Richard said softly.

“Yeh well I never was ordained, so forget about it.”

“Look, you will do what we tell you and here is why. Your friend here has a lovely wife and a son around thirteen, a daughter a couple of years older. If you don’t do everything we say, including putting on these clothes, we’ll shoot them. Let me show you something. ..” Melton said. He pushed some keys on his iPad and showed them his screen. The scene showed a boy sprawled in front of a big screen TV. “This is real time, watch this.” The screen in front of the boy went blank.

“Do not attempt to adjust the screen, we have assumed control,” an ominous voice intoned. The boy jumped up and ran out of the room. Melton turned off the device.

“How, when …?” Richard asked, his face now completely drained of color.

“Real time. When the boy brings back the housekeeper to show her, it will be fine. As long as you cooperate, otherwise … so just do what we tell you for the next few hours and he will just remember today as the time when his x-box malfunctioned. Otherwise, he won’t have any more memories about his game system or anything else, got it?” Richard nodded and said nothing.

“Alright I’ll wear the goddamned dress,” Hez exploded at them. “You guys are a bunch of sick jackasses.”

“What we are, Mr. McCane, is determined. We are on the verge of realizing humanity’s longest cherished dream--limitless energy to do limitless things. And no farmer john or hack writer is going to prevent us getting what we want.”

“That’s not humanity’s long cherished dream. Humanity didn’t give a fig about energy until assholes started sucking sludge out of the ground and whizzing around with it. It’s all been a freaky side show since then, one that never should have started,” Hez said and tried to yank up the robes.

The man who had brought them into the room, pushed him away. Hez glared at him, “I thought you wanted me to put those on.”

“Go get a shower, then you put them on,” Melton said.

“Right, wouldn’t want to spoil the pretty dresses.”

“Just do what you’re told.” Hez shot him a contemptuous look and left the room.

“He’s not going to have the right attitude to play his role,” the robe guy said to Melton.