Chapter 12

Chapter 11  (13+) Jack meets Lise at hospital. Szokoly discovers something. Lanier...is Lanier #2037069 by Hyperiongate

Chapter 12

The morning had been filled with surprises; something Colonel Lanier had long ago come to understand was just part of the job. Doctor Szokoly had started things off with “You are not going to believe this.” The colonel hadn’t even had breakfast yet.

“What have you got for me this morning Doctor?”

“So far, we’ve determined that the object is non-metallic, at least not in the sense of how we describe being metallic. Metal detectors respond to its presence although we are not sure why. All normal tests indicate that it is inert. As far at that goes, it doesn’t even look metallic. We think it may be a super-hardened ceramic. Anyway, that is not the big news.” The doctor paused in his predictable manner, drawing out the suspense.

The colonel stood his ground; not saying a thing.

“Colonel, how big would you say the Artifact is in terms of something you might see every day?”

Wes played along with, “I would guess about the size of a bus.”

“Actually, that’s a pretty good guess. So, you would think that something traveling at the speed of light, a neutron particle for example, would be able to cover the length of the bus in an almost imperceptibly short amount of time, would you not?”

Wes crossed his arms and waited for “Big News” he was certain was coming.

“Anyway,” the doctor continued. “We placed a rudimentary neutron detectors above and below the artifact and then used the earth’s rotation to intermittently block the natural neutron flow from the sun. In this way, we could track the path of a single neutron as it passed through the Artifact. We’d hoped this would give us a clue as to what the thing is made of. Anyway, it took a single neutron particle nearly five minutes to pass through the Artifact!” It was all the doctor could do to keep from dancing around the colonel clapping his hands.

Wes knew there had to be more but it looked like the doctor was busy with his internalized mini pep-rally, oblivious to the impatience of his boss. Eventually the colonel had to bring the physicist back into the disclosure mode.

“Doctor, particles can be slowed down from the speed of light. That has been accomplished time and again in laboratories around the world. This doesn’t seem to be so remarkable.”

This statement alone sent the doctor into another gleeful prance. He was in his element now. He had information; surprising information, the telling of which, he drew out for effect.

“Colonel, suppose I told you that the neutron particles were traveling at the speed of light as they exited the Artifact? In fact, they had not been slowed down in the slightest.”

Wes immediately understood what was being said. If the neutrons had not been slowed down, then they had traveled millions of miles during the five minutes they had spent passing through the artifact. Clearly there was more to the Artifact than its lack of metallic characteristics.

“And what does you team think this implies?” asked the colonel.

Szokoly stopped short. The colonel had a very good point. What did that mean? They’d only discovered this phenomenon within the last hour or so. Even now, they were working to verify their results. Yes, what did that mean?

The colonel watched as his chief physicist stared blankly into space, pondering the implications the colonel had just asked about. Lanier cleared his throat, rebooting the physicist and bringing Szokoly back into the moment. He seemed surprised to find himself standing in front of Lanier who was apparently waiting for an answer.

“I’ll have to get back to you on that one, Colonel.” He said and scurried back towards the Artifact building. They’d made amazing progress on the structure over the last day or so. Still, the doctor was impatient. There was so much to learn, so much to do. It never once occurred to him that he might be tampering with something best left untouched.

Colonel Lanier had been at this game for years. He’d learned to not be surprised by anything. Strange science was just part of the job. Still, this Artifact was something different. Usually, an unexplained object, and there had been several, would hold onto its secrets for years. Szokoly had only had access to this latest one for less than two days and already it was putting on quite a performance. It started by defying gravity and now, it apparently had a galaxy sized space tucked into its relatively modest size. This coupled with the man in the hospital made this event something out of the ordinary.

Wes hadn’t even made it back to his tent before his cell rang. It was one of his inside people at the hospital. He filled the colonel in on the morning briefing by the doctors. He mentioned that JD11 rumors were well underway in the hospital’s hallways. The colonel was starting to realize that this was going to be a hard thing to keep under wraps. It would be hard to contain an entire medical team if too many “interesting” things started happening to their patient. He placed a quick call into Nellis. He was going to need more men.

The call from Jack a bit later had been expected. He’d listen as Jack confirmed what he already knew. They’d scheduled a meeting and now, as Lanier drove out to meet with Jack, he considered the comment he’d read in his early morning report; the one that the girl had made.

“I think he knew I was reading to him. I think he liked it.” How would she even suspect such a thing?

Lanier made a quick call and then listened as her profile was read to him over this cell phone. She was just what she seemed; a young girl working at a hospital to put herself through nursing school. It seemed a little out of the ordinary that she was included in the morning briefing. Dr. Marshall must be more perceptive than he’d thought. She’d been the only one in the room open to possibility of the girl’s reading having an impact on the patient; or, perhaps the patient’s impact on the girl.

Wes could feel a pattern developing. Dr. Marshall and Annie seemed to be extraordinarily perceptive. Jack had experienced some inexplicable insights himself. Finding JD11 in the middle of nowhere was extraordinarily unlikely. He recalled how Jack had “lost himself” in the high-speed run into the desert that resulted in his stumbling upon the man everyone was now calling JD11.

There was an outside force at work here. Something the colonel couldn’t measure, see or feel; but it was there. He needed to find out what he was up against. Was this outside element a danger or an asset? Did it reside in the Artifact or in the patient? He’d taken steps to protect against the Artifact unleashing some unknown danger. Would those steps be enough? Did he need to consider JD11 in the same light? Did the burned man have a surprise of his own that needed to be guarded against; aside from the ability to regrow eyelids?

Lanier was five minutes outside of Jack’s place when his cell phone rang. The one-word message was a game-changer.

“Breach.”

The colonel shook his head. He knew it would happen; just not that fast.

Lanier pulled into Jack’s driveway to find him waiting on the front porch. He took his time getting out of the car, observing Jack as he did so. There were a lot of balls in the air at the moment and the colonel needed to make sure none of them came down in the wrong place. The “breach” meant that a suspected infiltration had occurred. He’d get more details as they were gathered. But regardless of what actually happened, everyone associated with the Artifact Event was both a suspect and in danger. He looked at Jack and wondered if anyone had gotten to him? Was he the breach?

The colonel waved from beside his car. He carried himself in his professionally inert manner as he approached the house, but behind his eyes, his mind was taking in data. He absorbed everything like a sponge. Once he had it, he would let his unconsciousness chew on it for a bit. The Colonel knew that was where the real answers were; deep in the mind, in corners most people left unexplored. He knew better. He realized people found his insights uncanny. The reality was, he just paid closer attention than most.

Jack’s place was a good two miles south of town. The yard was neat. Cardboard boxes were collapsed and stacked near the trash. Jack was standing, arms at his side, relaxed and open.

The colonel’s subconscious came back with the results: Jack was clean; of that there was no doubt. He went up to the man and shook his hand. “Tell me what’s up Jack. How are things going at the hospital?”

“Well Colonel, they are starting to get a little strange. JD11 is healing in ways that the doctors are unable to understand. To me, he still looks pretty messed up, but they see things I don’t. Apparently, he is growing back parts of his body that shouldn’t grow back. For example, he is re-growing eyelids. He’s not supposed to be able to do that. Then there is this nursing assistant that is claiming some sort of mental link with him. I know that sounds hard to believe but some of the things taking place go beyond mere coincidences. She read to him last night. According to the data, his metabolic rate picks up when she does that.”

The colonel already knew all of this but he thought it best not to let Jack know he knew. His life was all about secrets. The less people knew about things they didn’t need to know, the better. “Need to know” was the key phrase. As Jack spoke, the colonel considered how much of a “need to know” applied to the man in front of him; his ace-in-the-hole. He was a highly capable man with the best military training anywhere. He could hide in plain sight and never even know himself that he was one of JD11’s bodyguards.

Lanier considered how much he could reveal.

As Jack watched Wes, he did his own mental assessment of the situation. The colonel knew more than he was letting on. The acceptance of what he’d just said was a little too quick. Jack had expected at least a little bit of incredulity. Then again, maybe the colonel had been around so long that not much surprised him anymore. More likely was the fact that he already knew everything before Jack had said a word. Based on his limited experience with the man, it was probably the latter.

Finally, “Jack, there has been a security breach. I’m not exactly sure what or how, but we can now assume that those most interested in phenomena like our patient, now know that something is going on. They will be certain to act.”

Jack sat back and took in the blunt revelation. This was not something he wanted to hear but at least the colonel was being straight with him. “Who is “they” and what do you mean by ‘certain to act?’”

“It could be any number of groups that benefit from keeping the world in the dark with regards to certain truths. If this is who I think it is, “they” refers to a European group with religious affiliations. They have been around for centuries in one form or another. Outwardly, they appear to act as if it’s their duty to protect us all against a prophesied invasion from hell. Their real purpose is more along the lines of protecting the status quo of global religion and its far-reaching control of world events.”

“It is unlikely that they know about JD11 specifically, but we’ll have to assume they will soon enough. These people believe that someone like JD11 is a threat. They preach thing like the Second Coming, but the truth is that they want to actively squash anything that will compete with their control of the world’s faithful. Given the strangeness of JD11’s short history, he is likely to raise some eyebrows. If that happens, they will go after him before he can gain any influence.”

“Wait a minute,” said Jack. “The odds are strongly against JD11 surviving at all. Even if he does, he will be severely handicapped for the rest of his life. How can he be seen as anything other than a tragic figure?”

“You could be right,” said Lanier. “Still, they would rather err on the side of caution. The way you found him in the desert along with his miraculous healing and the telepathic connection with the girl are all red flags to them. Yes, there may be explanations for all of these, but if these things continue, word will get out and they will come for him. They will see it as their divine mission to kill him as quickly as possible. Any delay would allow him a chance to grow stronger and stronger until he is beyond their ability to contain. Simply put, they think that JD11, or anyone like him, is the Devil’s foot-in-the-door. They will not rest until the perceived threat is taken care of.”

“Of course you realize how insane that sounds,” said Jack. “Why are these people even allowed to exist? Why don’t you use your unlimited resources to round them up and put them away?”

“They have resources as well, Jack. They are very organized and highly secretive. We know them as they know us, but neither has the ability to stop the other.”

“What do we do now?” asked Jack. “I want to be ready for when they come for him.”

It was exactly what Lanier expected to hear. “Jack, I need you to stay close to Dr. Marshall and JD11. I am not asking you to spy on her but you must understand that we need to know how JD11 is doing. For now, the hospital is as safe a place as any. But once they find out about him, they will strike quickly. I need to know when JD11 is well enough to move. As soon as possible, we need to get him onto a military base.”

“I am going to tell Dr. Marshall right away. She’ll understand. Right now, her biggest concern is the welfare of her patient. As far as moving him is concerned, I’m not a doctor but I’d say you better start preparing to defend that hospital. Lise says she expects him to be in that tank for several weeks or even months.”

Lanier stood to leave. “I’ll make sure he’s protected no matter where he’s at. Just keep me informed. I especially want to know anytime something…unexpected happens.”

“Colonel, before you go, I have two things. First, what do you think about all of this? Is JD11 a threat? Could he really be dangerous?”

“I don’t know Jack. I will make my decision after all of the facts are in. In the meantime, I am taking precautions either way. What was the second thing you wanted to bring up?”

“I am going to need a gun.”

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