Stones: Experiment (Stones #3) Read online

A shooting star blazes across the sky. They both watch it in the silence of the singing frogs.

  “Yarah?” Leo stretches his hands back and puts them under his head. “How did you make this world? Wouldn’t it be cool if I could make one too? Then we could go back and forth and have a huge game of hide-and-seek.”

  Yarah bolts upright. “I love hide-and-seek! Let’s do it.”

  “But first, you need to show me how to make a world,” Leo says. “Can you do that?”

  Leo stares up at Yarah, and she looks back at him. Her eyes float up to the sky, sweeping back and forth across it.

  “Well?” Leo says.

  “It’s hard to remember.” Yarah’s large eyes roll from one side to another. “It was so long ago. I was just a little girl.”

  Leo chuckles. “You’re still a little girl.”

  “No, I’m not!”

  “OK, you’re all grown up.” Leo stares at her. “Can you remember?”

  Yarah closes her eyes. “I’m trying.” Her head bobs up and down like she’s watching a scroll unfold inside her mind. “I went to sleep. When I woke up, I was standing in the middle of a huge grassy valley. I thought about a river, and then it was there. I remembered a jungle I saw in a book, and there it was. The castle was next. It all just happened.” She opens her eyes.

  “It all just happened?” Leo’s eyebrows rise on his face. “But how? No matter how much I try, no matter how much I think about it, it never happens for me.”

  Yarah props her chin up on her elbows. “You really want to make your own world, don’t you.” She states it as a fact, not as a question.

  “What do you think?” Leo says. “It’s not fair.” He drops his head as the emotion wells up in his throat. A tear streaks down his face. “You have your world. Matt has his. But I have nothing.”

  A tiny hand reaches out and brushes the tears on his cheeks. Yarah’s voice drops to a whisper. “I could ask.”

  “Ask who?”

  Yarah stares at the blanket. “I’m not supposed to tell. I promised her.” She twists the cloth with her hand.

  “What are you talking about?”

  Yarah’s face floats back up to the sky. “My fairy godmother.” Her eyes catch the light of the stars.

  “Fairy godmother?” Leo shakes his head and wipes his nose. “That’s just your imagination. She’s not real.”

  Yarah looks at Leo, and her eyes narrow. “She is real. She comes to visit me whenever I call her. She knows a lot about the Stones and says she was just like me when she was little. She wants to help me to grow up and be like her someday.” Yarah drops her head back to the pillow. “I’ll bet if I ask her she’ll be able to help you make your own world.”

  Leo speaks after a long silence. “A fairy godmother. She’s not something you created out of your imagination? Like the dragon.”

  “No!”

  “A real person?”

  “Yes!”

  “OK, I believe you. Do Matt and Jessica know about this?”

  “She made me promise to keep it a secret.” Yarah’s eyes drop down and she yawns, long and deep. Her cheeks come onto Leo’s leg. “I’m sure my fairy godmother will be happy to help you. Good night.”

  Another shooting star streaks over their heads, and Leo listens to Yarah’s soft snoring. He reaches down, stretches her body out on the ground, pulls her blanket up to her chin, and then lies beside her.

  Fairy godmother. If only I were so lucky.

  CHAPTER 12

  “I’m impressed with the work all of you have been doing.” Ryzaard leans back in his chair. “I know you’re tired. We can’t keep up this pace forever. When it all comes together, you’ll see that it’s worth it.” He lets a long silence pass. “But that time is not yet.” He pushes away from the table and stands up.

  As if on cue, everyone at the table moves to leave the room.

  “Dr. Ryzaard.” Jerek picks up his slate. “Could you please swing by my office when you get some time today?”

  “Happy to. I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Ryzaard walks past the others to Kalani and intercepts him, gently taking his arm. He turns back to face Jing-wei and reaches out for her arm as well, standing between them.

  The others move to their individual offices through silent openings in the glass bubble surrounding the central room. The openings slide shut behind them.

  Ryzaard lifts his chin. “Opaque screen.” The glass bubble fades to metallic silver, cutting off the view of the outer lab and offices.

  Kalani exchanges glances with Jing-wei. Her eyebrows lift, as if to ask why they are being detained. He shrugs his shoulders.

  “Now, then,” Ryzaard says. “Is there something else you wish to tell me?” He looks at Jing-wei and over to Kalani, tightening his grip on their arms. “Something that you didn’t want to share with the others?”

  Kalani’s head slowly shakes back and forth, and Jing-wei’s eyes drop to the table.

  “We’ve cracked the Chinese quantum encryption codes,” Jing-wei says.

  “Yes, I know,” Ryzaard says. “Excellent work.” His grip on their arms remains tight. “As I recall, you now have access through Chinese channels to high level government security files across the globe.”

  “That’s true,” Jing-wei says.

  “But there’s more, isn’t there?” Ryzaard moves closer. “You’re not telling me everything.”

  Jing-wei shrugs her shoulders. “We’re making new discoveries every day. It’s all in the reports I’ve been sending you.” She turns to leave.

  But Ryzaard doesn’t let go of her arm. He pulls her closer. “You’re hiding something.”

  Jing-wei’s eyes avoid Ryzaard’s, staring straight ahead. “It’s nothing. Now, if you’ll let me go, I have some urgent work to do.”

  Kalani is frozen in place, eyes on the floor.

  “You two are my stars,” Ryzaard says. “You work well together as a team. I wouldn’t want to be forced to do anything to . . . damage that relationship. I’ve heard that TruthTell can degrade one’s mental function. Is that what you want me to use?”

  “No.” Jing-wei has a pained look on her face.

  “Then tell me. Everything.”

  An audible exhale escapes from Kalani’s lips as he visibly tries to relax, but his upper body remains hard and fixed in position. His eyes float shut.

  Ryzaard looks back and forth between them. “I see. You’ve found something big. You’re scared. Not sure what to do.”

  Jing-wei slowly nods her head.

  “I’m proud of you. Both of you.” Ryzaard relaxes his grip, walks forward to the table and sits, inviting Jing-wei and Kalani to do the same. “Now tell me what you’ve found.”

  Kalani’s lips part, his voice just a whisper. “Launch codes.” He lets out a big sigh. His shoulders drop.

  “Launch codes?” A smile cracks across Ryzaard’s face. “Are you serious?”

  “Yes.” Jing-wei’s gaze lifts up as her shoulders droop. “Not only for the Chinese, but their client governments as well. More than a hundred and fifty in all. Russia. Most of the countries in Asia. The Middle East. All of Africa.”

  Kalani scratches his chin as the words tumble out. “Nukes and E-mag disrupters. Satellite-based, land-based, submarine-based. Both launch and pre-planted. Enough to start a full-scale planetary nuclear war.”

  “Very good.” Ryzaard brings the palms of his hands together. “You’re halfway done. Find the codes for the rest of the world. Then we’ll have something we can really use.”

  “Use?” Jing-wei gazes at Ryzaard, eyes wide.

  He stands up from the table. “You never know. It may all come together quickly. We have to be ready.” Ryzaard walks away, leaving Jing-wei and Kalani staring at each other. Stopping at the door to the conference room, Ryzaard looks back. “One last thing. Don’t ever try to hide information from me again. I can promise you’ll regret it.”

  CHAPTER 13

  Ryzaard sits in a chair and looks to mak
e sure the glass walls are blacked out.

  “Is the prototype ready?” he says.

  “Ready for a test, but no more,” Jerek says. “I may have to tweak it, depending on the results.” His eyes go up to Ryzaard and then dart away. “I trust you have our agreement firmly in mind.”

  “Don’t worry, my young friend.” Ryzaard’s arm reaches out to pat Jerek on the back. “Once this is all over, you will have your pick of countries to run on purely scientific principles. I’ll enjoy watching you create a model society. Under my leadership, of course.”

  “And an unlimited budget to establish a research and development lab under my personal direction.”

  Ryzaard chuckles. “When we are finished, you will have more resources than the combined defense budgets of every nation on the planet, many times over.”

  Jerek purses his lips, suppressing a grin. “I can’t wait. The things I’ve thought of making. If only I had the time and resources.”

  “You will. Now, let’s go over the specifications on this wonder machine you’ve built.” Ryzaard’s hand instinctively goes up to his chest and strokes the three Stones in his black leather chest harness. “I want to make sure you have understood and incorporated my needs into the killing device. This is the key to the next phase in my grand plan. The way we will go from three Stones to eleven.”

  “Sure,” Jerek says. “It wouldn’t hurt to go over the design one more time to make sure I’ve captured your ideas.”

  “Good.” Ryzaard adjusts himself in his seat. “Let me start at the beginning. The purpose of this machine is allow me to kill the other Stone Holders.”

  “Right,” Jerek says.

  “Which is no easy task.” Ryzaard slips one of his Stones out of its slot and holds it up for appraisal. “The difficulty lies in the fact that it’s an easy matter for a Stone Holder to jump away when confronted. In order to properly kill them, you must be able to hold them in place.”

  “Which is precisely what I’ve done.” Jerek leans back with arms folded neatly in the lap of his white lab coat. “I’ve adapted the design for the Null Box, which we’ve successfully deployed in the past to dampen the power of the Stones and make it impossible to jump away. I’ve miniaturized that technology, made it portable and built it into the base of my killing machine. Anyone with an exposed Stone within a couple of meters will find their power largely diminished. Except yours, which will remain unaffected.”

  “Precisely what I wanted,” Ryzaard says.

  Jerek drops his elbows to the table in front of him. “When you deploy the device, you will insert your Stones into the slots in the device I’ve prepared so they’ll be protected from the Null Box technology.”

  “Understood. What about the actual killing mechanism?”

  “I’ve decided to go the route of good, old-fashioned poison. Based on what you’ve said, poison is difficult to detect even for a Stone Holder.”

  “I used that approach to get my first Stone from Varanasi, the holy man in India.”

  “But it will require that you use your own Stones to create a sphere of plasma encapsulating the victim. Both to hold in the poison and to protect yourself from any energy fragments they throw at you from any residual power left in their Stones.”

  Ryzaard nods. “No problem. Can I see the device now?”

  “Just one last caution. You’ll need to handle the poison carefully. I’ve developed a procedure that will protect you from accidentally inhaling any of it.”

  “Good,” Ryzaard says. “It sounds like you’ve thought of everything. Let’s give it a go.”

  “I’ll need your Stones.”

  “All of them?”

  “Yes, of course. The device draws on their power as a portable energy source.”

  Ryzaard pops the three Stones out of loops on his leather chest harness and places them one by one on the table between them.

  “It will be necessary for me to handle them.” Jerek moves his fingers closer to one of the Stones. “Do I have your permission?”

  Ryzaard nods. “By all means.” His eyes follow Jerek’s fingers. “Do whatever is necessary. But only what is necessary.”

  Jerek picks up a Stone. He eyes it carefully, moving slowly as he turns it in his hand. “So beautiful,” he says.

  “Move quickly, my friend.”

  With a nod, Jerek leans closer to the killing machine, shaped like a foot-high version of the Eiffel Tower, made of a clear outer shell that shows a mass of internal solid state components. Multiple open slots are spaced evenly on the base.

  “Looks like the inside of a jax,” Ryzaard says.

  Jerek nods. “In essence, it’s a communications device, so there are similarities.” He slips the Stones into three open slots, the pointed end dropping in first. When all the Stones are in place, a clear glass covering slides over the openings, sealing them in.

  “Simple enough,” Ryzaard says. “You drop the Stones into the slots. I assume that will shield them from the Null Box technology.”

  “Exactly. You’ll have free use of your Stones, augmented by the Amplification Protocol, but the victim will be severely limited in what they can do.”

  “What happens next?”

  “That depends.” Jerek digs into the pocket of his white lab coat and comes out with a handful of glass tubes of all colors of the rainbow, each the size of his little finger. Carefully, he spreads them out on the table.

  “On what?”

  “On how you want to kill the victim. I’ve had our chemical lab working on these for the last month.” Jerek picks up a white tube and balances it between thumb and index finger. “This one has an ultrafast-acting poison. Odorless and incredibly toxic. Derived from rattlesnake venom. I wouldn’t recommend you use it unless you’re wearing a gas mask. One whiff and you’re instantly dead.”

  Ryzaard rummages through the other tubes. “What else do you have here?” He picks up a pink one.

  “That’s an interesting toxin,” Jerek says. “It’s pretty much the opposite of the last one.”

  “Slow poison?”

  “Right.” Jerek takes it and holds it up to his eye. “Smells like bubblegum. When inhaled, there’s no immediate effect. The poison goes to the brain and wreaks havoc before it completely breaks down, leaving no chemical trace. The victim goes into a deep depression that lasts for weeks. Eventually, they stop eating and drinking because of unrelenting hallucinations and just waste away until death is a welcome release.”

  “Sounds like nasty stuff. I like it.”

  Jerek drops the pink tube back into the pile. “There’s an antidote for it in case you accidentally inhale any. Just remember the bubblegum smell.”

  “What else do you have?”

  Jerek selects a yellow tube. “This one causes kidney failure. Death comes in a few hours.” He grabs a red one. “This makes the victim go into cardiac arrest. Dead in three minutes. I’ll send a Meshfile to your jax with a thorough explanation of each one.”

  Ryzaard nods. “Very good. What about this one?” His fingers curl around a clear tube that looks empty.

  “That’s my personal favorite.”

  “How does it work?” Ryzaard holds it close to his eye as if appraising a diamond.

  “Simple. It instantly binds with oxygen, effectively removing it from the air inside the sphere. The victim loses consciousness after two minutes. It takes a bit longer for them to die, eight or nine minutes. It will pose no risk to you as you deploy it.”

  Ryzaard nods. “Can we test it?”

  “Of course.” Jerek takes the clear tube and drops it into a slot in the top of the Eiffel Tower device. “There’s a built-in sensor. We’ll know if it’s working.” Jerek picks it up and walks to an open area in the middle of the office, positioning it on the floor. He walks back and pulls two plastic mouth pieces from his pocket, handing one to Ryzaard and keeping one for himself.

  “Once we begin the test, bite down on this as a precaution.”

  “Got it.
” Ryzaard leans forward. “How far back should I stand?”

  “Two and a half meters should do it.” Jerek moves to his seat and picks up a slate, brushing its surface with his fingertips. “OK, ready. You can power up the Stones, like you did before. Create a bubble centered on the device large enough to engulf the victim.”

  Closing his eyes, Ryzaard exhales slowly. In his mind, he sees energy flowing out of the Stones to form a perfect sphere.

  The three Stones in the machine glow with a pinkish hue. A transparent film of white appears in the air above the device and drops to the floor like a dome, enclosing an area three meters in diameter with the device at the exact center. At first, the white sphere flickers in and out of view. After half a minute, the flickering stops.

  Ryzaard opens his eyes. “I have it now. What happens next?”

  “Put on your filter.”

  As Ryzaard bites on the mouthpiece, warm plastic flows out from its center, making gentle contact with his skin, covering his face from the nostrils past his lower lip.

  Jerek’s fingers dance across the slate. “Let me confirm the integrity of the seal.”

  Blue telltales flash on the side of the device.

  Jerek’s eyes drop to the slate. “Confirmed. The inside of the sphere is maintaining a constant pressure of 2,000 millibars, approximately double normal atmospheric pressure. Now we’ll release the reactant.” He brings the filter up to his mouth and bites down.

  They hear the sound of gas escaping under pressure. The enclosed area inside the sphere takes on a slightly cloudy appearance.

  Jerek nods and speaks through the filter. “It works. Readings indicate zero free oxygen. Anyone on the inside of the sphere will suffocate and pass out in less than three minutes.” His fingers move over the slate. “One more test. Please keep the sphere in place and stand back.”

  Ryzaard hears the rat-a-tat-tat of a small machine gun blast. Sparks flare inside the sphere. A half dozen metallic balls the size of marbles drop to the floor and roll at the bottom.

  Slipping off his mouthpiece, Jerek stares at the slate. “Internal integrity of the sphere confirmed. I’ve imbedded a pulse blaster on the device, just in case you need it. It will instantly shred anyone on the inside.” He looks up at Ryzaard. “I’d say we have a working device. Test complete.”