Chapter 14

Chapter 13  (13+) Jack and Lise have a first date...while Annie dreams of Him... #2037378 by Hyperiongate

{Chapter 14}

It was just after 2:00 am when his phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, Colonel Lanier shook head and thought, “Didn’t that guy ever sleep?”

“What do you have for me Doctor?”

He could almost hear his physicist, Dr. Szokoly, prancing on the other end of the line.

“Colonel, you have got to come over here right now. You are not going to believe this.” There was no asking if Lanier was awake or not. The doctor knew from past experience that the Colonel rarely, if ever, slept.

“I’ll be there in three minutes.”

It had been almost a week since they’d unearthed the Artifact and five days since the neutron experiment revealed the Artifact was apparently more than met the eye. During that time, the lab and its containment dome had been completed. As for Dr. Szokoly, he’d been noticeably absent from the colonel’s calendar. That meant that there was either nothing or too much to report. He hadn’t even been seen outside of the lab for the last four days; having his food brought in to him.

Lanier headed over to the lab. Hopefully, the Dr. had discovered something useful.

*****

A couple of hours earlier, Annie reported to work for her night shift. She knew that Dr. Marshall was on duty tonight and was looking forward to maybe working with her. She also knew that Dr. Marshall would be peaking in on her during the shift. JD11 had told her so.

This was nothing new; hearing from JD11. Over the last several days, Annie had become more and more aware of JD11’s presence in her mind. At first, it felt like she was just imagining things. Did he really want her to read to him? Did he really know that she was even there?

Eventually, Annie became convinced that he was communicating with her. Surprisingly, it was no big deal. She’d come to work and the thought “Hello, Annie,” would pop into her head. She didn’t hear anything; it was more like she’d just passed through a time and place where that thought existed, waiting for her to receive it.

He’d cautioned her about telling others about their communication. “They won’t understand,” he’d sent. “Their fear at such an idea will cause them to take you from me. We cannot let that happen, Annie. There is something coming. Something I need you to help me with. So for now, stay silent on this subject.”

Annie went through her regular routine of recording readings and making sure all was going well from a medical perspective. She remembered a time, only a few days ago, when the rows of dials meant nothing to her. Back then, she’d only understood that if an alarm went off, she would have to call for help. Now, she knew what everything meant. No one had told her; she just knew. Lately, she’d begun to wonder why they needed all of that information anyway. It was hard for her to understand how they couldn’t just “know” his status by being near him. That’s what she did. She knew the rate of nutrient feed, his pulse and a myriad of other indicators; all without even looking at the dials. She just allowed the information to come into her mind.

Annie took her book out to her patient and began to read. Tonight’s selection was The Red Badge of Courage. She was up to reading one complete book a night, even though she only read for three hours. Her speed had picked up once she started reading silently. It seemed that JD11 didn’t care if she read aloud or not.

*****

Jack left the hospital a few hours earlier after having come in share a dinner with Lise in the cafeteria. They had become a regular item over the last few days. Tonight, she had duty and she would miss their romantic interlude. Still, it had been good to spend at least a little time with him, even if it was over a plate of alleged meatloaf and green Jell-O. They’d have to make up for time lost tomorrow and Lise was already looking forward to it.

As usual, JD11 had been part of their evening discussion. She’d told him about Annie and her readings. It had been Jack’s idea that Lise look in on Annie the next time she had duty. Well, tonight was the night. Hopefully, it would be a quiet night and Lise would be able to find the time to look in on Annie while she read. She didn’t expect to see much of anything. By now, it was common practice for JD11’s vitals to ramp up during “story time” as they now called it. The consensus was that it was just some sort of subconscious reaction to the vocalization. Some research had shown that quite a bit of brain activity can be stimulated by auditory signals when one is asleep. For the time being they ignored the fact that no one had been able to explain how the same healing reaction took place even when the listener was supposed to be in a coma and deaf.

Lise sat in the TIG control room watching as the dials measuring JD11’s physical and mental activity began to move up indicating increased activity. She had sneaked in shortly after Annie had gone out to sit with their patient. Lise felt a little bad about “spying” on the girl but she felt it was important to get a candid view of what had been taking place the last few nights. She had no idea that Annie was completely aware of her presence.

The control room was dark with the exception of the lighted dials and gauges. This meant she could see out into the TIG room but Annie couldn’t see her: at least not easily. Once
Annie opened her book, the change was abrupt across the board. One moment, everything was nominal; low readings typical of a comatose patient. The next moment, everything jumped. JD11’s body, floating with apparent calmness in its gel bath began consuming nutrients as if he were running a marathon. Brain activity went from random firings to an organized output of beta waves!

Lise was so stunned she had to sit back and gather her thoughts. Beta waves! He was awake! That was not possible. He was in an induced coma. No matter how healed he was, the drugs would prevent him from waking up. Lise ventured a look over the top of the readout console, into the TIG room. She could see Annie about fifteen feet away. The young woman was standing next to the tank. In one hand was the book of the night. She appeared to be reading it to herself. Her other hand was flat against the side of the take.

There was something strange about the way JD11 was floating. It took Lise a moment to realize what it was. Instead of floating in a relaxed state with his arms at his side, his right arm, the one nearest to Annie, was outstretched. His hand was flat against the glass, just opposite of Annie’s.

*****

Wes found Dr. Szokoly waiting for him outside of the newly completed Artifact Lab. Lately, the doctor had been taking on more and more of the classic mad scientist look. His thinning hair seemed to have a finger-in-a-socket appearance. The thick glasses and wrinkled lab coat completed the picture. The doctor had barely slept at all during the last few days. The artifact had been revealing one small marvel or another ever since they found it. Most of the findings were trivial to the non-scientist but every now and then, something happened that no one could comprehend. This latest discovery seemed to fall in the latter category. It had been time to call the colonel.

“Colonel, about thirty minutes ago, two of my technicians both started to experience a series of déjà vu type events. We may have overlooked it but they both were standing side by side when it happened. They each looked at each other at the same time and said “Déjà vu.”

“Fascinating, Doctor. I’ll see you in the morning.” Wes turned to leave. Apparently this was another one of those “small” things.

“Wait! There’s more.”

Wes turned around visibly impatient. He was going to have to put the doctor on some mandatory R&R soon. “Can’t it wait Doctor?”

“Colonel. It’s moving. The artifact is moving.”

“What do you mean “moving”? Is it stating to float away or something?”

“No. It’s not moving around. It’s vibrating. As far as we can tell, the vibrations and the déjà vu events started at the same time. Don’t’ you see? These two things are related in some manner. Sure, everyone has experienced déjà vu; but two men at the same time and exactly in sync with when the Artifact began to vibrate? Colonel, there is way more going on here than meets the eye.”

The colonel was suddenly very interested. In his mind, there was a big “threat” difference between an inanimate object and one that starts to act of its own accord.

“What do you mean by that, doctor?”

“Colonel, I think the Artifact has been turn on. I’m not sure what that means but it’s clearly having an effect on those nearest to it.”

“Is there anyone down there with the artifact right now?”

“No Sir. We have kept everyone out of the containment room since the vibrations started. We didn’t want anyone in there if it started to act up in some unpredictable way.”

“I want to take a look.”

The colonel paused for a moment to use his cell phone. He contacted the B-2 circling high overhead and said, “Ten minute standby.” He wasn’t going to take any chances. If he didn’t re-contact the bomber within the next ten minutes, it would release its payload. Shortly after that, Artifact Camp would cease to exist.

Dr. Szokoly had some misgivings about the Colonel going into the containment room but he knew that when the colonel wanted something, he got it.

They both entered the lab area from which they could observe the Artifact remotely. From there, the colonel went through a series of airlocks and then into the containment dome, shutting the door behind him. He had not been this close to the Artifact since the structure had been built up around it. It felt much larger than when it had been out in the open.

Szokoly had said it was vibrating, however, the colonel couldn’t see anything. He thought that he detected a slight hum right at the edge of his hearing range but he couldn’t be certain. Slowly, he reached out his hand. As his hand got closer to the artifact, the hair on his head began to stand up. He could almost feel the air tingle as he passed his open palm inches over the surface.

With an effort, he pushed through the final inch of air and placed his palm flat on the surface.

I have been here before. We have all been here before.

Lanier flung himself backward, breaking the bond between himself and the artifact. He waved off the doctor who came running in through the access door.

“Doctor, I want that door locked. No one gets in here again until I say so.”

He then placed a stop-call to the B-2 overhead. The colonel didn’t know what it was that he’d just experienced, but he wanted to keep the Artifact around long enough to find out.

Dr. Szokoly knew the colonel was shaken up. That was something that, to the doctor’s knowledge, had never happened before.

*****

Lise sat in the observation booth and “observed.” Annie kept her hand on the tank while JD11 did the same. Lise wondered if it were possible that she was making too much out of what she was observing. Maybe their patient had experienced an involuntary muscle contraction, causing his hand to move against the glass wall of his tank. That must have been it. Annie had simply put her hand there afterwards.

She knew she was just fooling herself. There had been no muscle contraction. The unconscious man, the one in the tank that was in a coma, had made a conscious act.

Lise was at a loss. He was in a coma, but he was not. He was unconscious, but the data seemed to indicate he was awake. What the hell was going on? And what did Annie’s presence have to do with it? Why was JD11’s metabolism suddenly hyperactive? What is going on with the brain waves? Lise could see that JD11 was not conscious, or at least he didn’t appear to be. His brain waves were telling her otherwise.

Combining all of this with the obvious fact that he was healing faster every day and Lise found herself faced with information that fell outside of her highly skilled and educated boundaries. This was new territory; not just for her, but for anyone in any medical field, anywhere. This had never happened before.

Lise was sitting back, trying to sort out what she had to work with and what she should do next when the door opened and Annie walked into the booth.

“Good morning Doctor Marshall. JD11 said you were here. He told me to thank you for all of your help.”

Chapter 15  (13+) The Brotherhood enters the picture. #2037971 by Hyperiongate