Blue Crystal Oracle

By K.G. Lawrence

Sage Lomax is born with no brain. An international research project is initiated to both study Sage’s development and do everything possible to help her cope with her unique disabilities. For twelve years, Sage benefits from remarkable advances in science and technology until she becomes the most powerful and dangerous high-tech weapon on earth, which only attracts dark, unwanted interest. A Senate Review Committee investigating how a girl born with no brain became the most powerful and dangerous high-tech weapon on earth discovers imbedded within the international research project created to study and help her, a disturbing plan that was devised and implemented before she was even born. Blue Crystal Oracle is the fourth book of the Proteus Group series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: K.G. Lawrence
• Release date: Apr 12, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370991358

K.G. Lawrence

With degrees in biology and psychology, I have always enjoyed writing both fiction and non-fiction. I spent several years at a research lab at Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, this has provided me with a background on food and strengthened my skills as a researcher. I have put my background in biology and my research experiences to good use in writing the Introduction to Ethnobotany, as well as my novels.

Book preview

The blue gun was made of plastic, but it wasn’t a toy. It fit her hand perfectly and felt light in her grasp. The trigger had a smooth, precise action when she squeezed it.

Mrs. Lomax . . . Savannah, the older of the two men said, think about what you’re doing.

It had dual-laser sighting. She couldn’t miss, just point the two red dots at either of the two men on their knees before her and shoot.

There is no need for this.

The clip contained thirty rounds of small-caliber bullets fired at twice the velocity of the next fastest handgun made. A semi-automatic, it was a short-range weapon designed to be used in tight places to take down as many people as possible as quickly as possible.

Where is my daughter?

Four more clips of thirty rounds each were stuffed into her pockets.

We can still work this out, the older man said.

Where is she?

She didn’t understand the significance of making the gun out of plastic, and she didn’t care. She had used one clip to get here and it had been effective. That was all that mattered.

She stepped closer to the two men. You’re stalling.

No, Savannah, that’s not it.

As she took a moment to look through the laboratory windows at the catwalk outside, she touched the bloody wound on her forehead and then the one near her right temple. Her shirt was torn at the left shoulder and stained with her husband’s blood.

Ryan laid on the laboratory floor three paces to her left. The blood had finally stopped pooling around his waist.

She checked for a pulse one last time.

Savannah, we’ve come so far together. You have no idea what Sage can do. She could be the end of all of us or she could be a new beginning. Just let us—

Shut-up!

Four men, security guards, lay dead and strewn about the laboratory. Two other men were dead in the laboratory one floor below them.

Do you expect me to count to three? She put the gun to the older man’s temple. I should just kill you now for all you’ve done to us, for all you were going to do to us. She patted her stomach and squeezed the trigger back.

The younger man, a surgeon, had a bloody wound on his forehead similar to hers.

Fine. One. She grabbed a handful of messy salt-and-pepper hair and dragged the older man over to the console that controlled the locks on all the laboratory doors. Two. A tug back and hard push forward propelled his face into the metallic corner of the console.

The man grunted one sharp, painful gasp before crumpling to the floor.

Savannah didn’t give him a chance to catch his breath. She kicked at him to force him back beside his partner.

Three. She squeezed off a shot near their knees. It sounded muted compared to the noises the rifles those four dead men never got the chance to fire would make.

They had conceived and instigated their plan shortly after Sage’s final procedure. They had manipulated everything in order to get her and her daughter back to this medical research facility in east San Francisco.

Another look over at Ryan brought tears again. She wiped her eyes and aimed the gun at the older man. Her trembling subsided the moment she pulled back the hammer.

Through clenched teeth, she said, I won’t ask again.

The two men glanced at each other, but neither of them said anything.

Fuck you!

Each man held up a hand as if that would actually stop a high-velocity bullet; a purely reflexive response.

These two had thought they knew everything. They believed they had controlled every phase of her daughter’s experimental treatments. They were going to deliver their greatest achievement to the ones holding their leashes. They had been bigger fools than she had.

The older man said, Think about what you’re doing. Think about how we all got here. Don’t do something you will regret. Don’t do anything that will harm Sage.

Her hands began trembling again. I trusted you. She squeezed on the trigger.

Remember what it’s been like for you, Mrs. Lomax.

She glanced at Ryan. Don’t call me that.

He nodded. It’s been an episodic life with Sage, has it not? Remember the promise of your first child, the shock, the setbacks, the unexpected threats and challenges? Remember how we helped both you and Sage through all that?

She’s in here somewhere. Where did you put her? What are you doing to her? She pressed the gun hard against the older man’s forehead, forcing his head back, tilting his face up so she could look straight into his eyes.

All right, you want to be angry, be angry. You have every right to feel that way, but don’t be foolish. Just take a moment and remember, Savannah. We’ve been with you the whole way. Think about all you went through twelve years ago to finally give birth to the child you thought you would never have.

Chapter 2

She took another deep breath, grunted and pushed again. The stabbing pain shot up from her uterus to her heart.

Ryan supported her shoulders. One more, sweetheart, you’re almost there. She wants to come into this world. One more push, that’s it.

Ann Devonshire wiped Savannah’s brow. You’re doing great. You both are. Just remember your lessons. She’s almost here, almost here.

Hold on, she said to Ryan.

I’ve got you. He squeezed her shoulders.

Savannah strained and pushed and yelled. Shards of pain seemed to be trying to shred her to pieces.

Dr. Felix Humboldt said, I see the head. He looked over at Drs. Tammy Darrow and Robert Visser. His eyes opened wide. It looks normal. The tone of surprise in his voice matched his eyes.

Again, sweetheart. That’s it. You’re doing great. Ryan kissed the back of her neck.

She would insist forever that the shiver his kiss sent through her provided the power behind her last push to bring their child into the world.

She’s beautiful, Ann Devonshire declared, a beautiful, beautiful baby girl.

Darrow and Visser rushed over to the surgery table to take a quick look at the new arrival. Visser bumped the cart containing all the medical instruments needed for a C-section if that had been necessary.

She leaned back against Ryan but continued to take deep breaths. Though the contractions were subsiding, each one still felt like a knife slashing at her insides.

I love you. He kissed her cheek.

With assistance from Ann Devonshire, Dr. Humboldt took care of the umbilical cord. Darrow and Visser backed up to their previous position to just observe.

Devonshire and senior nurse, Elizabeth Bergeron, quickly cleaned and wrapped the baby before handing her over.

Devonshire cooed, Your angel is a bit early. We need to keep her extra clean and warm.

Bergeron said, Congratulations. Her voice carried no joy, no conviction.

Her daughter was six weeks premature. Blue eyes starred up at Savannah but with no focus to them. She didn’t move. She didn’t cry. Savannah could barely feel her breath.

I love you, she whispered and took hold of Ryan’s hand. Mommy and daddy love you so much. Their tiny daughter just lay there in her arms. She’s so light.

She’s wonderful, Ryan said. His voice failed when he touched his daughter’s cheek. I have the two best girls in the world.

Nurse Devonshire said, She’s your very own great big miracle.

Their daughter didn’t move or cry. To Savannah, it felt like she had just stopped breathing.

Dr. Humboldt took off his white surgery cap to reveal a mess of long, greying hair and backed up to stand with Darrow and Visser. They whispered together, but their whispering soon became a hushed and animated debate. When they broke their huddle, Humboldt came back to them.

Nurse Bergeron took the still baby from Savannah.

Humboldt said, We need to do those tests we talked about. And you need to get some rest. Let us take care of your new treasure for the next while and let you get your strength back.

It’s okay, Ryan said and gently squeezed her hand. We knew this was going to happen. Everything is ready for her. She will be all right.

His voice had no more conviction behind it than Bergeron’s had.

Elizabeth Bergeron placed Sage into the incubator and followed the three doctors out of surgery on their way to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Nurse Devonshire smiled and brought over the wheelchair for her. Let’s get you rested up so you can hold your baby girl again as soon as possible.

Pain sliced through her abdomen when she called after the others through the closing door, Her name is Sage. She looked up at Ryan’s glistening eyes with tears welling up in hers. They should know her name.

Chapter 3

Dr. Felix Humboldt fixed the x-rays to the backlit screen. How did we miss this until just a few weeks ago?

Dr. Visser just repeated what he’d always said before, That opaque extracellular matrix in her head must have clouded the image. It looked like there should be something there. It looked like normal development.

You had problems from the start. At one point, you thought she was going to have triplets.

That’s what the 2D ultrasound showed at first. Ten days later, the 3D corrected the image. They were only cysts on the inside wall of her uterus.

Darrow counted off on her fingers as she listed the encouraging but incorrect results from all the ultrasounds they had taken. At six weeks, we saw what appeared to be normal development in the telencephalon, mesencephalon and rhombencephalon. She had a forebrain, a midbrain and a hindbrain. We saw normal development in movement coordination. Her mouth would open, her thumb would go in. At twenty-eight weeks, she opened her eyes. Blood flow was good in the middle cerebral artery. There are no lesions.

Visser added, The mother tested free of any viruses or genetic anomalies. The amniotic fluid tests were fine. Nothing in the images suggested anything other than—

Then we get this. Humboldt put up the most recent x-rays. That’s all this poor girl has.

Visser said, It’s a wonder she isn’t exhibiting symptoms of anencephaly. With no functioning cerebrum, she should never have been able to gain consciousness.

Darrow countered with, But the neural tube did close.

He tapped one of the x-rays of Sage’s head. So, something inside that opaque mystery must be working, then, wouldn’t you say?

But for how long? Darrow scanned the pre-natal reports. She’s alive . . . for now. There is some stem cell development. But we may be looking at little more than autonomic functions and who knows how long they will last?

He said, Others have survived.

Darrow asked, What about the array?

Visser shook his head. It’s too early for both the girl and the array to consider that option. The array is still in the research stage and she may never develop sufficiently for it to be of any use to her.

It’s designed to help people with Parkinson’s and those who suffer severe seizures. It could possibly help her with basic functions like breathing and rudimentary movement.

Darrow said, Felix, we don’t even know if she’s going to survive the night. She looked half-dead to me. Even you have to admit she didn’t look good. If she could make it through the next three or four years, and that would be pushing our luck because she would still be too young, we might be able to consider that option. Right now, however, she’s just too small and fragile for that kind of surgery.

Visser said, Who knows how much better it will be in three or four years? If she’s still here, we would have a better idea of what her special needs are. They could design the array to specifically deal with those needs. He shook his head again. But not right now.

Contact Novus Somnia, tell them they have an obligation here. It was their Ovagamex she took. It was their revolutionary new in vitro technique that delivered this problem to Savannah and Ryan Lomax.

Dr. Visser stopped at the door. Ramona really likes Savannah. She will make sure Novus Somnia steps up for them. He left.

Dr. Darrow took down the x-rays and then took hold of his hands. It’s all very well, Felix, to make plans for her future, but what do we do for her until then?

Every damn thing we can. And then we pray.

*****

Shit, Bergeron said for the fourth time. It’s impossible. They’re too small. I can’t find a vein big enough.

Devonshire blew a kiss to Sage. She’s breathing on her own pretty good. She’s a fighter, Liz. She’s going to make it. I just know she is.

Not if I don’t get this PICC line into her. She’ll starve to death before she ever gets the chance.

Ann took hold of the tiny girl’s arm and gently slapped her skin. She squeezed and massaged and stroked. Come on, pretty girl. Give me a vein and we’ll take good care of you, I promise, sweetie.

The fifth attempt was successful. The needle looked like a harpoon going into her arm.

Sage didn’t cry or fuss when it went in. She just looked up at them from her incubator with wonderful blue eyes.

You can do it, sweetheart. I know you can.

Bergeron checked all the pads attached to Sage’s chest, her legs and arms. Three of the pads were specifically designed to stimulate her muscles. Recent research had indicated a modest stimulation could go a long way to encouraging development of muscle tissue, bone growth and even organs.

It was no substitute for contact with her mother, though. If this preemie was going to make it, she needed her mother’s touch, as much of it as she could get. Even that might not be enough, though.

Ann wiped her eyes and whispered, You’re too precious. You just have to live.

It might be better if she didn’t.

Don’t say that. God didn’t bring her this far just to let her die.

"God had nothing to do with this. It was those damned drugs. They should have adopted instead of risking this trying to have one of their own. Now look at what they’ve got: only heartache, guilt and regret."

Ann Devonshire continued to coo at Sage as she positioned the Bili lights and turned them on. We’re going to get some proper color into you, my little miracle. She said to Bergeron, They have much more than that, Liz. They have the sweetest baby girl in the world. That’s all that matters. She cooed at Sage, Isn’t that right, princess? You have your whole life ahead of you.

"What kind of life is she going to have with no brain?

Chapter 4

Ryan brought her into the NICU’s Isolation room still in the wheelchair. The pain in her stomach had barely eased off since giving birth to Sage three hours ago. Moans and groans preceded almost every word she said. Pain circling around her ribcage made breathing without gasping more difficult as they approached Sage’s incubator.

Ann Devonshire patted her shoulder. Try not to worry about all the equipment. All this wonderful beeping and humming stuff is doing all it can to help your little girl.

Elizabeth Bergeron stepped away from Sage once they were close enough. She’s quite the tiny celebrity. All the girls just had to come have a look at her.

Those patches, Ann said of the white ones, let us monitor everything about her. She’s breathing quite well on her own for having underdeveloped lungs. Dr. Humboldt thinks we only need to keep the oxygen supply turned up at bit.

See those there. Bergeron pointed to pale-blue patches. They are from Novus Somnia. It’s a new stimulator for preemies. It’s just been approved for use and we’re the first hospital in San Francisco to get one. Your Sage is the first baby here to use it.

Ryan put her right next to the incubator.

Sage’s blue eyes were fixed, as if staring at the top of the clear plastic box that was keeping her warm and bathed in oxygen-enriched air. She didn’t move.

Bergeron tapped on a beeping monitor. Her vitals are good, though her body temperature is lower than we would like. I’m sure that will right itself soon enough.

Of course it will. Ryan rubbed her back. Hello, princess, mommy and daddy have come to see you.

Savannah buckled a bit when she bent forward. A stab of pain like a ball of spikes rolling around poked against her lower abdomen. It’s mommy, baby. Sage, can you look at me, sweetheart? Give mommy a smile, okay?

Sage’s eyes didn’t move from staring up. She was wrapped tight to keep her warm and looked like a caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland.

Ann said, Dr. Humboldt thinks we can risk some kangaroo care for the both of you as early as tomorrow. You can hold her all you want then.

She reached for Sage. What are those on her head?

Three smooth ridges about one centimeter apart ran side by side from the top of Sage’s forehead to halfway to the back of the top of her skull before flattening again. They resembled a design highlight sometimes seen on the hood of older model cars.

We don’t know, Bergeron said. I’ve never seen that before on a preemie. Bergeron clucked her tongue and sighed. I’ve never seen that on any baby.

It could be some overlap or distortion of those sections of her skull because she has no. . . . Ann gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

Dr. Humboldt entered the room running his fingers back through his thick, unkempt hair. How is our mighty mite doing?

Bergeron said, Vitals are good but for her body temperature. We were finally able to get the PICC line in. The Bili lights will get rid of the jaundice.

He stood beside her and Ryan. This must look a bit confusing, and maybe somewhat scary, but it is routine for a preemie to be hooked up to all this equipment. Remember, this is exactly what we discussed last week.

Ryan asked, How much does she weigh?

Bergeron said, She’s just over a kilogram, two pounds eight ounces. She’s fifteen and a quarter inches long. Her abdominal circumference is nine inches. Her head is also nine inches.

She is a bit on the small side, but that is a good weight for a six week preemie her size. Humboldt smiled at them. If she’d gone full term, you would have delivered a very big package, Mrs. Lomax.

And that other matter? Ann stroked her hair. What are we looking at, Doctor?

She took hold of Ann’s hand. Thank you.

More sharp, stabbing pain tore through her lower abdomen.

We found a small lump of brain tissue about the size of an acorn at the top of the spinal cord just inside the foramen magnum. It appears Sage has a medulla, so her autonomic functions are good: breathing, heart rate and blood pressure. There also appears to be some development of the pons and the midbrain, albeit very small at this stage.

Ryan asked, What does that mean for Sage?

Breathing, heart rate and blood pressure are stable, though her heart is beating a bit faster than it should at the moment. Her vitals should remain stable as she develops and gets stronger. Preemies usually develop quite quickly. He shrugged. Frankly, I am guessing here because the pons is so small, but if it functions properly, Sage should be capable of regular sleep, and we should expect to see her be able to swallow, which is good for feeding without a tube. Her eyes will become less fixed. She will be able to taste and hear and see. He crossed his fingers. It will assist in regulating her breathing and you should soon be able to see all those wonderful facial expressions babies make. The midbrain plays a part in all that, too, plus motor control and temperature regulation.

But it is really small right now, Ryan said.

About the size of an acorn, yes, Humboldt said and held his finger and thumb apart to indicate the size.

That’s so— Savannah heard screaming . . . her screaming. The room began to go dark. Hands were grabbing hold of her, at first trying to stop her fall, then turning her onto her back once she landed on the floor.

Dr. Humboldt was checking her. One of the nurses had run to the intercom and was calling out the emergency code and location.

Ryan’s muted voice didn’t match the wide and vigorous movement of his mouth. She’s bleeding.

Nurse Bergeron was suddenly beside her with towels. A soft, warm lump was pressed between her legs.

I want to hold my baby, she heard herself say to the blurry ceiling lights. Let me hold my little girl. She screamed again as something scraped and burned inside her. My baby let me have my baby.

Medical staff came running into the room. Other doctors and nurses took over from Humboldt.

Another tearing explosion went off inside her, followed by a warm flow and numbness spreading down along the inside of her stomach, groin and thighs.

Prep her for surgery, one of the new crew said. I’ll call Dr. Lytle. That person then vanished.

The next moment, she was rising off the floor and landing on a gurney.

She screamed out. Sorry, baby, sorry. You sleep now, get your strength. That’s my— She screamed again and grabbed something.

Someone tried to take hold of her hand but their fingers only just touched before the bright ceiling lights began to move like a conveyor belt above her.

Had she left her body? Could she will herself back inside of it? Was she dying?

You must stay with Sage and Ryan. Go back to them. You can’t leave them all alone now. You can’t do that to them. It’s just the beginning for all of you.

Please, Savannah, Ann Devonshire said, don’t struggle. You have some tearing and bleeding. We need to get you put back together. You will be fine. I’ll look after both of them for you, don’t you worry.

She felt a soft pat on her shoulder and a brief clasp of her hand before her eyes closed. Numbing coolness was replacing what had felt like magma flowing through her.

The overhead conveyor belt of lights had stopped moving. A door swung open and then quickly closed again.

A doctor was barking out orders.

Someone grabbed her left arm. A moment later a sharp pinch intruded at her elbow.

Bright lights came on directly above her. A sheet covered her head and then drew back.

She tried to bring up a hand to shield her eyes but couldn’t raise either arm.

A dark head bent over her and blocked some of the light.

It’s okay, Mrs. Lomax, the doctor said through his surgical mask. We think you have a couple of tears inside. You’ve lost some blood and you’re going to be sore for a few days, but you will be fine. I’m going to fix you right up. Now just go to sleep and let me do my magic.

Another head came between her and the light. We’re ready.

A number of people began talking at the same time as the anesthetist put the mask over her nose and mouth.

She could have avoided all this if she’d just had the sense to abort once she found out she was going to give birth to a child with an empty noggin. Now we could lose them both. A pity, too, because she has a nice pair on her.

From Savannah’s right, Bergeron wiped her forehead and said, That comment is inappropriate, Dr. Lytle. And they didn’t know their little girl had no brain until it was too late.

How could you not know . . . ?

Sage’s blue eyes stared down at her.

Chapter 5

Is it time already?

Ann Devonshire nodded and came straight to her bed. She looked down at Sage lying between Savannah’s breasts. She is so happy like that. It is a shame that she can’t stay longer, but we all want what’s best for her, don’t we?

You can be a terrible nag, you know.

Ann laughed. Hand her over, mom, that’s an order.

She won’t look at me. I wish I could make her look at me.

She will, Ryan said.

Ryan’s right. She still has five weeks to go before she even gets to the point where she is a fully developed newborn. But, Savannah, she is making fantastic progress.

Are you sure she can’t suckle yet?

No, she just can’t right now. She picked Sage off Savannah’s bare chest. I know you’re concerned about bonding with your daughter, but believe me, these sessions with mom and dad are doing the trick. And just between you and me and our miracle girl, I know for a fact that she’s impatient to get at you, too. She laughed and rubbed Sage’s back.

She doesn’t move. She doesn’t make a sound.

She will soon enough. Then you will wish she would just sit quiet for a few moments and let you catch your breath. She turned Sage toward them and lifted her tiny arm. Wave to mommy and daddy, tell them you will be back promptly at two o’clock. And this time you can stay for two whole hours.

Really?

Dr. Humboldt thinks it will be okay. Ann left.

Dr. Humboldt entered her private room a few minutes after Ann had taken Sage back to NCIU. Ramona Gilbert from Novus Somnia, taller than Humboldt, solid, her straight auburn hair kept short, her green eyes and wide, friendly mouth free of makeup, came in with him.

She had just finished getting from her bed to the wheelchair.

Humboldt asked, How did this session go?

Good. She wiggled a bit to get comfortable in the chair. Some lingering pain persuaded her not to wiggle too much. She’s getting some natural pink to her skin.

Ryan said, She smiled at us today.

Wonderful. And how are you doing, my dear?

There is little pain now unless Ryan and I are really going at it. But the nurses keep interrupting us so I haven’t popped any stitches. I can stand and walk a bit more now.

Gilbert said, That is good news on all counts.

You three have come a long way in just one week. Liz and Ann tell me Sage has responded well to being held. She’s getting stronger every day . . . really strong.

Ramona shook her hand and then Ryan’s. But we also know it has been a struggle for all of you. We want to be optimistic but realistic and not minimize the challenges you have already faced or the ones ahead of you.

Still, I think she’s getting very close to being ready to go home. The both of you are.

Ryan asked, Is Sage microcephalic?

No, Gilbert said.

We’ve run all the tests. She doesn’t come out positive for any of the usual causes. She has no chromosomal anomalies like those that cause Down’s syndrome. We found no genetic deletions or mutations or defects. She has no mitochondrial disorders. Basically, she has passed the whole gamut of potential causes that we can test for at the moment. And you both passed every test with perfect results. It is a given, though, that we will continue to monitor her closely.

There have been cases of children born with similar conditions to Sage who have survived and even thrived.

She took hold of Ryan’s hand. Is Sage in danger?

Humboldt put up his hands as if trying to prevent her from getting up. It is too early to make assumption about Sage. While she does not have a normally developed brain, her head is only slightly smaller than it should be. It is likely the gel inside it that masked our ultrasound scans played a role in keeping her skull growing to a normal size.

Is the gel any danger to her?

We do not think so. We are monitoring it, but it does not appear to be causing any extra pressure. We do not want to risk draining any of it while her skull is still soft, just in case, and certainly not until we know more about what it is.

Gilbert said, I’m sorry, Savannah. I wasn’t trying to alarm you. I only wanted to point out that there have been a number of cases similar to Sage’s condition where the child has done just fine. While each case is unique, a woman in England born with no brain grew up to earn a doctorate degree at Oxford and is now a psychology professor there.

The next few weeks are crucial to Sage’s immediate survival. She is doing just great right now and we should keep in mind that postnatal brain development is very fluid and dynamic. Over the next three years, we will need to be vigilante for any signs of Rett syndrome or other complications, but we can discuss that at another time.

Ryan asked Gilbert, Why are you here?

Before I came to work at Novus Somnia on the Human Genome Project, I studied genetic disorders. I’m here to help in any way I can to understand why Sage is the way she is and what can be done to make her life, and yours, as fulfilling as possible.

Why?

Savannah, I would have thought you’d know why.

With Ryan’s assistance, she rose from the wheelchair and hugged Gilbert. Thank you, Ramona. We like you, too.

Gilbert kissed Savannah’ cheek and wiped her eyes when they ended the hug. She is so beautiful. She has your eyes, Savannah, but I think she is going to have Ryan’s dark, curly hair, not your straight, chestnut color.

I hope she ends up taller than me, too.

Gilbert wiped her eyes again. I better get back to work before I become a bubbling mess. Just remember, you two, you are not alone in this. We guarantee that.

We do, Dr. Humboldt said and then escorted Gilbert out of the room.

Why did she really come to see us today?

Stop thinking like a lawyer and help me to the bathroom.

Chapter 6

They called themselves the Apostles, but he refused to use that exalted label. Unfortunately, the situation had reached the stage where he had no choice but to bring the four men and two women left of the original seven with him.

Though comfortable, clean and centrally located in San Francisco, the hotel wasn’t fancy. It certainly wasn’t what they had become accustomed to when out in the field. It wasn’t up to the standards of the one they had stayed in during last year’s mission here, but it had what he needed. He had reserved the whole fourth floor, which included a conference room they could use for their command center.

Timothy Bartholomew Chase sat his 6’6", 350 pound frame onto the chair at the head of the table in the center of the conference room and waited for the two co-leaders of the group to enter.

Joseph Clarke and his people were busy setting up their equipment and monitoring stations at the other end of the room.

He first joined the secret service community as a CIA agent. As part of his indoctrination, he took it upon himself to learn all he could about CIA operations past and present. He had discovered two occurrences of US intelligence becoming involved with paranormal potential in human beings.

The first time was when the CIA and military intelligence gathered all the data they could on USSR experiments with telekinesis and remote viewing. Both departments had come to the same conclusion. There was nothing of significance to it. One contributor to the final CIA report had acerbically summarized the whole business as resulting in a few spoons being bent by dubious means.

Cole Reagan, two inches shorter than him and over a hundred pounds lighter, ten years younger, blond, permanently tanned, and originally from Los Angeles, entered the room and took a seat to his right. The other members of the Senate Review Committee all arrived at the Omni last night. They dined together.

He checked his watch. That won’t take long. What is our team doing?

Tye Rosen just got up. I don’t know how, but he managed to get wasted last night.

If he’s not in top form, you have my permission to throw him out a window.

Gladly. Gwen Hunter is already in position in the other room. Herman Kolisnek is busy with his second helping of breakfast.

"And how is mom doing?"

She’s stomping around her room cursing her daughter for deserting her. Reagan got up and headed for the door. I’ll round up the others and get them situated with Hunter.

The second time the CIA had become interested in anything paranormal had more merit, though only after the fact. A self-proclaimed medium in Newark successfully predicted a surprise attack on allied forces during the Gulf War. No one had acted on her warning, however, and sixteen soldiers were killed in the ambush.

Another flurry of research started with a focus on issues of national security. After seven years, roughly at the turn of the century, and after this Newark medium had failed to predict anything else of use—though she had monetized her brief fame with a short-lived reality television show—it started to peter out and eventually faded away again. The research team was disbanded. The team’s leader, Harvey Weinberg, moved on to more fruitful research in human genomics.

They discovered the first real one right after 9/11. Dorothy Cooper was a very unremarkable single mother of three living in a trailer park just outside of Anadarko, Oklahoma. Her first prophecy was a frantic warning of the pending 9/11 attacks. All three of her children had been agitated the night before. None of them could get to sleep. Dorothy Cooper had divined a sense of impending doom for the nation. She had called numerous local and national radio talk shows, had spoken in vague metaphorical and symbolic terms about the coming destruction.

Those on high will crash into clouds of despair. The innocent will be innocent no longer.

She had, the program directors had admitted later, sounded too hysterical and crazy for anyone to put her on their show. She never got past the screeners on three shows and was quickly cut off on two others.

Then the unimaginable horror happened.

The event that brought her to his attention occurred one year later. Three tornados struck just south of Anadarko one after the other. All three bulldozed their way through her trailer park. The whole place was literally torn from the map. But not her trailer; it was untouched.

That story made headlines. Dorothy Cooper claimed she simply refused to let any of the tornados harm them when they came through. Satellite images revealed one of the tornados had only skirted the trailer park before vanishing, but the paths of destruction of the other two revealed what appeared to be sudden deviations away from the trailer park as first one and then the other twenty minutes later came close to Cooper’s trailer.

Dorothy Misses Her Flight to Oz, TWICE, one local paper proclaimed.

Dorothy was the first apostle, but she was also the dumbest of the group. She did have enough sense to capitalize on her moment in the spotlight, though, and officially changed her name to Themis, after the titan who could see the future.

An intense series of tests on her and her three children revealed her oldest daughter, Lucinda, ten at the time, exhibited capabilities significantly above random levels of probability. It really wasn’t much to go on, but the pair came cheaply.

Weinberg was brought back—one of the biggest mistakes he ever made—and the research group was reactivated. Using what they learned from Dorothy and Lucinda helped them to refine their parameters for search and assessment. Within a year, they found five more with similar talents.

Douglas, Vitale and Hart in the Psychology Department of the University of Oklahoma soon discovered the seven could influence certain energetic and dynamic systems, though not very much. It was beginning to look like the Apostles could, in concert, blow out a match, but weren’t capable of doing much against a bonfire unless they had brought with them a hose attached to a tap.

Their apotheosis finally came in the form of a new turbine recently installed into a dam but not yet operational. Working together, the seven were able to turn the turbine very slowly 2 ½ times before their influence failed. Their reputation was entrenched after that. Scepticism and disbelief became admiration and, in some cases, worship; hence that fucking name for the group.

He and Weinberg had known from the start, though, that their real talent lay in crowd control.

John Atkinson, forty-two, just over six feet tall, thirty pounds overweight, a former accredited accounting technician, entered the room first. Cedric Hutt, thirty-five, exactly halfway between five feet and six feet tall, forty, a former Office Depot manager, shuffled in behind Atkinson. Hutt had kept his head shaved completely bald once he became the group’s unofficial lieutenant.

Reagan had remarked, Maybe he doesn’t want anything to interfere with his feeble brainwaves.

Neither of them came to his end of the table or sat down.

Chase checked his watch again. I have to leave shortly for the Senate Review Committee hearing. Where are we with those two?

We’ve lost them, Atkinson said. Her signal cut out at the bridge. It’s been cutting in and out since then.

Hutt said, But they’re still in the city. We’ll get her back.

It’s Dorothy. Atkinson started to come to his end of the table but stopped when Chase glared at him. She keeps losing her temper. That makes it hard for her to concentrate.

Chase got up from the uncomfortable chair. You are here only because Lucinda was supposed to lead you right to them. Remind Mrs. Cooper of that and tell her to bring her daughter back under control. I will return in a few hours.

Chapter 7

The first meeting of the Novus