Chapter 17

ID: 1762291   (Rated: 13+) Artifact Man  A thriller, new age, sci-fi novel about a strange man found in the desert. by Hyperiongate

ID: 1768016   (Rated: E) Chapter 16  Lise talks to Annie about JD11 and the tank. Annie gets her gun. by Hyperiongate

8:00 pm, Monday, March 23rd
Artifact Base

Colonel Lanier and two physicists from the scientific team sat at the table in the briefing room while Dr. Szokoly facilitated the meeting. The scientists had been pushing for more access to the Artifact, something the Colonel was remiss to grant after his experience the morning before.


“As you can see, Sir,” said Szokoly, “The Vibrations have appear to have a pattern as far as activation timing is concerned. From 2:00 am until 6:00 am yesterday and today, the Artifact vibrated. Outside of those times, it was for all intents and purposes, idle. I propose that we restore normal access to the Artifact for hours between 8:00 am and midnight. If the vibrations maintain their schedule, this should keep us out of “déjà vu” range while we continue to study remotely.”


Lanier knew of the vibration schedule and expected the scientists to ask for more access; still, he wasn’t certain that there was a danger here. The moment that he’d spend having his own déjà vu was still with him. Like a dream, he couldn’t quite make out what he’d seen or felt. However, the was the real sensation of danger. He felt certain that something very bad was coming; something catastrophic at a level the world had never known. There was also the sense that he’d been through it before. The Colonel felt certain that if he could remember what had happened “before”, whatever that meant, he could prevent the bad thing from happening again.

In his mind, the colonel wasn’t certain if the Artifact was the source of the bad event or if it was trying to warn him. This posed a particularly complex dilemma. Either the déjà vu event meant something or it meant nothing. If it meant something, it was either a threat or a savior. The only thing for sure was that whatever it was, they were still a long way from unlocking its key.


“Granted,” he said to the surprise of Szokoly and his team. The only way to find the answers was to go looking for them. “I want to know if there is any change at all to the vibration schedule. I also want you to work on a way to contain the vibrational effect should it begin to extend beyond the few feet that it currently can be felt.”


The colonel stood up to leave. As always, he had a lot of irons in the fire at any given time and the Artifact was just one of them.


It looked like he was going to make it out the door when Szokoly regrouped after having been stunned by the rapid approval of his request for access.

“Colonel, there’s more. I think you’re going to want to see this.”

“What is it Doctor? I don’t have a lot of time right now.”

Szokoly nodded for the lights to be dimmed. He pressed a key on his computer and a picture of a star field appeared. There was nothing especially spectacular at first glance. Lanier was about to say as much when he noticed something peculiar. The Field was rectangular in shape like an ordinary picture might be. However, the frame was not what it first appeared to be. What he was actually looking at was a star field surrounded by a thin strip of what appeared to be the inside of the containment dome.


“Doctor, is that what I think it is?”


Szokoly was surprised at how quickly the Colonel realized what he was looking at. “If you think that star field was photographed in the middle of the containment dome, you are right. It’s the Artifact. Right at the moment it began to vibrate, if flickered into this for a micro-second. No one looking right at it even noticed. However, we have been filling it with high speed cameras hoping to get some sort of lead on the vibrations. The computer kicked this single frame out as an outlier of interest.”


“What do you think it means,” asked the colonel.

“I’m not certain, sir, but I think this is our first peak at was the inside of the Artifact looks like.”


The colonel wanted to ask more questions but his cell phone rang. It was a number he never ignored.


“Yes?”


“Rudolf is in country.”


8:00 pm Monday, March 23rd.
Reno, NV.

“I don’t know what to think, Jack. None of this feels real. It’s as if my life has been turned upside down over the last week. First there is JD11 and his beyond miraculous healing. Next there is Annie and what is either a fantasy of a inexplicable phenomena. And finally there is you.”

She reached across the table to take his hand.

Jack smiled in return. She’d come to his house for the night and he’d done his best to cook something nice. Thankfully, she was more interested in him than his cooking abilities. The spaghetti sat mostly untouched as they continued their discussion about how their lives had suddenly gotten off track; not that it was a bad thing. It just felt like a lot of change in a very short period of time.


“As you know, I talk with the Colonel daily. He never says much beyond “Keep me informed.” He is a strange guy but my guess is that he’s perfect for the job he does.”


“What about that thing you and the Sheriff found out there by JD11? Has he opened up on that at all?” Lise asked.


“No. I think every conversation he has is based on a need-to-know concept. There is something going on out there or he wouldn’t be staying in the area. He’s basically told me to forget about the Artifact. If something comes up that concerns me, he’ll let me know.”

Jack hadn’t told Lise about the possibility of a threat from the outside. She and the hospital were under constant surveillance. There was nothing more that she could do to protect herself so why worry her with something that may never happen.

As that thought crossed his mind, the improbable was taking place in a small hotel not more than five miles away.

-----

The room was like so many others he had been in over the course of his career. A television set was bolted to the stand across from the foot of the bed. A thin mattress covered with a faded greenish bedspread took up most of the space in the small room. Under the window, a small air conditioning unit’s compressor clicked on and off every few minutes as if it couldn’t decide if the room temperature was just right or not.

The thin curtains did little to keep out the glow of the casino-rich night life only a block and a half away. One didn’t have to get too far off the main drag before prices dropped dramatically. Rudolf didn’t care about prices. He cared only about anonymity. The bargain basement establishments offered just that. There was no one to park his car for him. No lobby attendants vying for his tips. There was only the late night manager who barely looked up from his magazine as he passed over the room key.

He knelt on a small open space on the floor between the bed and the front door. Rudolf kept his eyes closed and his back straight as he let his mind drift to where it may. This semi-meditative state was one of the few pleasures he allowed himself. His life was filled with one assignment after another. These occasional breaks gave him the mental vacation he needed so that he could return to his job with a fresh, sharp mind.

Tonight, like many other nights, his mind took him to his earliest memories. Strange shapes, presumably his parents, left him on the doorstep of the monastery when he was only three years old. Someday he intended to find them. He wanted to thank them for giving him away for it had brought him to the glory of his current life. He also intended to make them pay for his abandonment. He was sure that God would understand.

The monks had taken him in. Those first few years had been harsh. Life at the monastery was built around studies, hard labor with very little room for comfort. Rudolf understood that he needed the beatings to help him see the error of his rebellious ways. He spent many a night on bare stone floors, shivering in the cold; punishment for a lesson not learned or a chore left undone.

They had come for him when he was twelve years old. The Brotherhood sought out boys like Rudolf, boys that were clever and tough, boys that would grow to be men with a hardness of soul. The Brotherhood would make sure that hardness had an outlet, one directed by them. His training began immediately. His classrooms altered between the church and the chamber. In the church, he learned to love. In the chamber, he learned to kill.

Rudolf killed his first man in the name of God at the age of sixteen. He was still surprise by how easy the task had been accomplished. Sneaking into a small cottage and pulling a wire tight around the man’s throat had been child’s play. It was the lack of emotion afterwards that had taken him by surprise. There was no guilt, only a feeling of accomplishment. The Brotherhood had told him that God was pleased with his work and rewards awaited him in heaven.

This was his ninth assignment to take out the Dark Angel. The fallen one was persistent, sending messenger after another. Rudolf thanked God daily for the existence of the Brotherhood for without them, the world was doomed.

Rising slowly, Rudolf allowed himself to become aware of his surroundings. Gone were the memories of his past. On the bed in front of him was he reality of today. Most of his supplies had been replaced. With the right contacts, such a thing was easy to accomplish; especially in the United States. He had all of the firepower he could imagine needing. Some of the electronic devices were a little harder to come by with some not due to arrive until later today. Still, he was satisfied that he was ready to resume his quest.

First on his agenda was to check out the site east of town where all of the activity was taking place. After that, he’d pay a visit to a local law enforcement official – Sam Tucker. He’d been the one to phone in the protocol to Nellis over a week ago. Rudolf intended to have a very personal talk with the man.

ID: 1769403   (Rated: E) Chapter 18  Lanier Observes Annie. Rudolf observes Lanier. Jack observes Lise. by Hyperiongate