Brainrush 05 - Everlast 02: Ephemeral (10 page)

F
RANCESCA
TOOK CHARGE
. “Tony, get her on the couch. Jonesy, water and a damp
cloth. Quick!”

Tony carried her over and Becker propped her head with a
pillow. The woman’s eyes fluttered open as Francesca wiped the soil from her
bruised cheek. The woman jerked upright and swiveled her head. “Bohai, Bohai!”

Francesca held the woman’s shoulders. “I’m sorry. He’s
gone.”

“Gone? Gone where?”

Francesca shook her head.

The woman looked from her to the surrounding men, and then her
shoulders sagged and she buried her face in her hands. Her chest heaved with
sobs. “Oh, dear Bo,” she said between sniffles. “I’m so sorry I got you involved.”
She turned and cried into the pillow.

Francesca caressed the woman’s long hair as she wept, trying
to soothe her pain, as Francesca had done for so many others. Caring for others
suited her; her empathic abilities induced a natural desire to comfort those
around her. The men had moved away to give the women space and spoke among
themselves around the table. At one point, Jonesy moved to one of the far
windows and peeked through the slats. He headed back toward the others, nodding
as he approached, and Francesca suspected they were formulating an escape plan.

As the minutes passed, her thoughts traveled to Alex, and to
the news the doctor had given her about her son. His last physical had
uncovered an anomaly—his body was aging at triple the rate of a normal child.
But unlike other fast-aging syndromes like Progeria, his condition wasn’t
genetic. The doctor thought it was something Alex had acquired recently.

The Grid...

She’d been beside herself with despair, and the doctor had
given her a high-dose prescription for something to ease her anxiety. She’d never
taken such medications before but had decided it was time to start. She’d gone
to the pharmacy to pick it up, planning to discuss what she’d learned with Jake
that night. And then she’d been taken and brought here to a Chinese village.
With no clue as to why, and with no idea where her husband and children were.

Jake, I need you.

The woman sat up. “Thank you,” she said, wiping her tears.
She cupped Francesca’s hands and bowed her head. “My name is Lin and I am in
your debt.” Her voice was soft, her manner demure.

“And I am Francesca,” she said, studying Lin’s smooth
features. Other than the bruise on her swollen cheek, the woman’s skin was
smooth and she had classic Asian features. “I’m so sorry about Bohai.”

“He was a good man. We worked together. He didn’t deserve to
die.”

“Glad you’re okay,” Tony said, walking over with the guys.
“I’m Tony, this is Becker, and Jonesy.”

Lin bowed her head. The men nodded and took seats across
from the couch. Lin’s eyes lingered on the stack of papers on the coffee table.

“You feel good enough to talk?” Tony asked.

Lin nodded. Her voice was distant. “Yes, I imagine you have
questions.”

The men exchanged glances. “A few,” Becker said. “Starting
with where we are and why we were brought here. Do you know?”

“The village is called Yóulóng, which means swimming dragon,
because it’s beside the river. We are in the center of Fujian province.”

“Southern China,” Jonesy said.

“As to why you were brought here...” Lin’s expression
tightened. “I think it is for the same reason that Bohai—” Her voice caught; she
blinked back a tear. “That
I
am here.” She leaned forward and fanned out
the stack of articles, scanning the titles. She sat back, her eyes narrowed on
Francesca. “You are his wife, aren’t you?”

Francesca startled, her senses on alert. She glanced at the
men, but the woman’s question didn’t seem to have troubled them. “How could you
know that?”

“Until a breakthrough in our research a week ago, I
didn’t
know that. But now I know much, and so do the people who stole my work.” Lin
closed her eyes. “Francesca Bronson, maiden name Fellini, born and raised in
Venice, Italy. Former psychologist and teacher from the Institute of Advanced Brain
Studies.” She opened her eyes and pointed at the article about the massacre at
the Carnevale Ball. “Until that happened.” Lin pulled the report about the
explosion at Battista’s fortress and held it up for all to see. “And then this.”
She looked at each of them, waving the paper. “When the first pyramid was
launched from the mountain in Afghanistan, you were all there, yes?”

Francesca and the others stilled.

Tony said, “That’s not common knowledge.”

“And I am not a common researcher.” Lin hesitated before
adding, “Nor was Bohai. In any case, I believe
that
is why you are here.
In fact, I’m certain that’s why I was brought here as well.” She turned to
Francesca. “You see, there are those who blame your husband for the
near-decimation of the human race.”

Francesca jumped to her feet. “That’s not true! Jake was
there but he was
not
responsible.”

“So he
was
there,” Lin said under her breath. “I knew
it.” She took Francesca’s hand, urging her to sit down. “Please, fear not. I am
a friend. As I said, there are those who wish to blame Jake Bronson. I am not
one of them.”

Francesca sat.

Lin continued. “I work for an organization that seeks the
truth beyond his link to each of these events.” She motioned toward the
articles. “We wish to unravel the global cover-up, to expose what really
happened, to confirm that the so-called Grid—and the supposed alien threat—was
nothing more than a grand scheme to plant fear in the masses in order to
coalesce power in the hands of the shadow governments behind it all. You would
know about such things, yes? You
were
there when the first pyramid was
launched.”

“Yes,” Francesca said. “I’m his wife and I will always stand
by him. I was there from the beginning.” She snapped her lips closed,
regretting the statement. They’d all agreed to never speak of the events to an
outsider.

“But you’ve got it all wrong,” Tony said to Lin, his voice
angry. “Sure, I was there at each of these events. So was Beck, for that
matter, and Jonesy later on, not to mention a slew of others.”

Francesca frowned at him, but he kept blabbering.

 “We were there for Jake. Standing with him against
impossible circumstances and even worse odds. His cause was just and we were
willing to die to help him.” He grabbed the article about Battista’s mountain
fortress and crumpled it in his fist. “We didn’t fly to the Middle East just
for the hell of it. Battista was the man who started it all. His real name was
Abdul Moham Abdali and the sucker was a new breed of terrorist. Hell, the son
of a bitch came up with a plan to sterilize every woman in America! He wanted
to take the entire Western world down. He kidnapped Francesca and her daughter,
hauled them to Afghanistan, and threw ’em in a filthy cell. Me ’n’ Beck ’n’
Jake rescued them.
That’s
why we were there!” He tossed the wadded paper
on the floor.

Lin kept her cool. “And that’s when Jake launched the first
pyramid?”

Francesca tried to steer the conversation away. “Well,
that’s—”

“Yeah,” Tony said. “He triggered it, but not intentionally.
Like I said, it was Battista.”

“And the nuclear explosion in Venezuela? When Jake launched
the second pyramid, you were all there as well?”

“Right as rain, we were there,” Becker said.

He seemed way too eager to join the conversation. His eyes
were glassy, and Francesca knew something was off.

Becker continued. “Except this time Battista’s gang held all
of us captive. We barely escaped. That’s when Jake detonated the nuclear
device.”

Francesca cringed. No one was to know they’d been there.
“Hold on—”

“And the launch of the rest of the pyramids six years
later?” Lin asked. “The worldwide Grid?”

“That was the Order’s doing,” Tony said. “Under the
leadership of a man named Victor Brun. He wanted to take down the entire human
race—all except his chosen followers—and he triggered the Grid to make it
happen.”

Francesca said, “But—”

“Jake had been in a coma for six years,” Tony plowed on. “When
he woke he was a changed man. When his memory finally came back, he wanted
nothing to do with the Grid. But the Order had other plans. They yanked him
from his life and strapped a skullcap to his head, linking him to the objects.”

Lin shook her head. “I can’t imagine what that did to him.”

“He was angry as hell!” Tony said. “We all were! We were
only too glad to help him.”

“He communicated with them?”

Francesca rose. “Tony, enough!”

He ignored her. “Jake was the only man on the planet who
could speak with the aliens.”

Lin’s eyes twitched, and Francesca sensed a flash of
excitement from her.
Or was it satisfaction?
The reaction alarmed  her.

“But we figured out where the Order’s headquarters were
located,” Jonesy added. “That’s where I came in. I was part of the assault team
that stormed their island. I was happy to take out the bleedin’ bastards.”

A
S
HE WATCHED THE LIVE
feed, Jiaolong’s gut boiled at the glee behind the
young Australian’s comment about murdering Jiaolong’s mother and father—
and
my future
.

He clenched his fists, suppressing the urge to strangle the
man with his bare hands.

His own countrymen will tear him limb from limb when I’m
through with him.

Jiaolong shook it off and reminded himself of all that had
been accomplished. Fate fortunes the bold. His mother had taught him that, and
he believed she was looking down on him right now with a broad smile. He’d
risked everything on his brazen move back to Hong Kong. He smirked, glancing
toward Zhin.
A move she ardently frowned upon.

Giving his men an extra two minutes to capture Bronson
before the conflagration had changed everything. Granted, his loyal soldiers
had perished in the effort and that was unfortunate. But according to the
report he’d received from his men on the scene, Bronson and TurboHacker were both
still alive as a result. And to top it off, they’d saved a bunch of the greens
in the process—

Two of whom knew the location of this village.

He sensed the pieces of the puzzle coming together. The
greens would point Bronson in the right direction, the American would come
looking for his wife and friends, and the jaws of the trap would collapse
around them. Jiaolong lowered his earphones to his neck and relaxed into the
leather couch, admiring Lin’s act from the multiple hidden-camera views on the
wall monitors. The sacrifice of Bohai, the unwitting pawn, had worked its
charms, and Lin had wormed her way into the captives’ confidence.

Jiaolong was in a secure control room on the third floor of
the Center. A trio of film editors sat at the console in front of him,
excitement evident in their swift movements. Pak stood beside them, one hand on
the console as he leaned forward to study one of their monitors.

Zhin and Min watched from the corner of the room. They’d
seemed standoffish since they’d arrived in the village. He’d deal with them, but
not when everything was finally coming together.

Pak turned around and smiled. “Sir, you have to see this. It’s
only a rough cut but I think you will like it.”

Donning his earphones, Jiaolong turned his attention to the
central viewing screen, dominated by a static image of Tony. Jiaolong nodded
and one of the editors started the video.

Lin spoke in voice-over.
“You were there when the first
pyramid was launched?”

“Sure,”
Tony said, his voice raised in anger.
“I
was there at each of these events. So was Beck, for that matter, and Jonesy
later on.”

The video cut to quick shots of Becker and Jonesy nodding.
Then back to Tony.

“We were there for Jake,”
Tony growled.
“Standing
with him.”

A quick cut to Francesca, who appeared anxious.

Tony said,
“Hell, the sucker was a new breed of
terrorist. He wanted to take the entire world down.”

Jiaolong snorted at the edit.

Francesca:
“Yes, I was there from the beginning.”

Tony:
“His cause was just and we were willing to die to
help him. He came up with a plan to sterilize every woman in the Middle East.”

Lin:
“And the nuclear explosion in Venezuela? When Jake
launched the second pyramid—you were all there as well?”

Becker:
“Right as rain, we were there. That’s when Jake
detonated the nuclear device.”

Lin:
“And the launch of the rest of the pyramids six
years later? The worldwide Grid?”

Tony:
“He wanted to take down the entire human race—all
except his chosen followers—and he triggered the Grid to make it happen. Jake
was the only man on the planet who could speak with the aliens.”

Francesca:
“I’m his wife and I will always stand by him.”

The video ended and Jiaolong beamed. He tossed aside his
earphones and rose. “Brilliant,” he said. He patted the editors’ shoulders and
shook their hands. “Absolutely brilliant!” He turned to share his excitement
with Zhin and Min, but they were deep in discussion about something.

His eyes went flat.

He looked up at the monitors with the live views of the
room. Without his earphones he couldn’t hear the exchange, but he watched as the
young Australian soldier appeared to offer Lin a bowl of steaming soup. She
shook her head.

The drug in the soup was harmless, though it did wonders to
loosen lips and wash away inhibitions. Perhaps he’d share a few sips with Lin later
and then enjoy a little alone time. The thought lingered for a moment—until he
noticed an odd change in behavior among Francesca and the men. They seemed
uneasy and Francesca was shaking her head.

“Turn up the volume on the live feed,” he said.

One of the editors flipped a switch, and Jiaolong listened
as Lin spoke.

“But there were too many rumors for it not to be true. It
was a miniature pyramid, apparently a subcomponent of one of the larger ones.”

Jiaolong turned to Pak. “This is not part of the script.”

“No, sir, it is not.”

“Tell her to stay on topic.”

Pak nodded and issued the order into the microphone of his
headset. On the monitor, Lin tilted her head, a sign she had received Pak’s
instructions.

But instead of heeding the order, she said,
“In fact, my
research uncovered that it had been in the hands of the US government during
the time your husband was comatose. But when he awoke six years later, both he
and the mini vanished.”

Jiaolong felt a flash of anger at her impertinence. “Give me
your headset,” he said to Pak. Pak was reaching up to comply when Zhin appeared
and stayed his hand. Min stood beside her.

“What’s the harm?” Zhin asked. She leaned forward and switched
off the volume to the live feed.

“So
now
you’re interested?”

“I’ve never been uninterested,” she said. “We’ve simply been
focused on other arrangements. But sister Lin did a wonderful job obtaining the
footage we needed, did she not?”

“Of course, but—”

 “So I asked her to make a few additional inquiries outside
the script,” Zhin continued. “After all, everything has come together so
wonderfully.” She softened her expression, and for a moment he was reminded
that she was every bit as beautiful as dear Lin.

Min added a sultry smile of her own. “It’s for a little
victory surprise we have planned for later. Will you allow us that?”

He hesitated, taken aback by their behavior. But he admitted
to himself that they were right. Everything
was
coming together nicely and
they’d acquired all the footage they needed. The final video would be a
masterpiece.

He studied the two women. Their expressions remained soft
and inviting, and he felt an unexpected flush of desire. He blinked, turned
away, took a breath. 

“Very well,” he said to Pak. “Give her another half hour.
Then send the guards to bring her back.”

He turned back to the sisters. “So, have the rumors been
planted in the village? Is everything ready for Mr. Bronson’s arrival?”

The sisters spoke in unison. “Yes.”

Both of them smiled.