GridTronix: Phoenix Apocalypse Series, #3

By Ernest Nichols

Phoenix prepares an invasion 400 years from now.

A Russian billionaire conspires with a Chinese scientist to con the World Trade Commission into accepting the GridTronix Corporation as sole provider of global wireless power.

 

But Jeremiah Hindemann and David Walker Harrison of the Midwest Alliance suspect these amplifiers will power a Phoenix invasion beam to a restored and enhanced Tower of Babel. Part of that invasion beam will shunt to another device hidden in Havana, Cuba.

 

The Midwest Alliance must defend against mental entrainment and superior off-world technology from enemies near the Florida coast and in the Mediterranean. We are powerless to defeat the Phoenix fleet as it enters our atmosphere. Are we doomed? Buy now to find out.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ernest Nichols
• Release date: May 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201740184

Ernest Nichols

Ernest C. Nichols is the author of the Phoenix Apocalypse Series. He brings 20 years of United States Air Force experience and 18 years of high tech, clean-room manufacturing engineering to this science fiction adventure/thriller epic.

Book preview

Chapter 1-The Donation

XING YEN CHANG BREATHES from his portable oxygen tank as he exits the train. His body is healthy, but he is not athletic, making his acclimation to this altitude a struggle.

His invitation to visit the largest Buddhist temple in Tibet comes through his boss, Zing Lin Cho, Chairman of the Imperial High Advisors. Declining this invitation is not an option. It’s curious that the temple’s High Priest is the chairman’s older brother, Zao Ying Cho.

Chang must bring religious artifacts from the temple to the Beijing Cultural Museum. Monks could box these items for shipment by train without the guidance of anyone from Beijing.

Why me? I’m a scientist. And why are museum donations a state secret?

He hires a vehicle and driver, but the road ends at an unused bus stop from 100 years ago. He remains in the car while his driver talks to a solemn novice monk who waves for him to follow.

Now I must hike up a mountain.

He stops every 25 paces to catch his breath and ease his burning leg muscles. The temple is a cavernous opening in a mountainside dominated by an enormous Buddhist statue. He follows the monk into the black recess of the mountain and loses his vision. His eyesight improves with a lungful of oxygen, but his tank is almost empty, edging him towards a panic attack.

The cavern is deep and Chang’s blindness returns. He shields his eyes from an interior light as the monk pushes open a door. Chang’s oxygen deprivation prevents his eyes from adjusting adequately, but he makes out a human shape behind a modest desk.

No cause for alarm, Doctor Chang. Acclimation takes time. I am High Priest Zao Cho.

When Chang grows unsteady, someone places a chair and helps him sit. The assistant wheels over a large oxygen tank. Chang sucks on it until his eyesight recovers and his headache subsides.

Water first, and then tea. Tell me when you can walk.

The water is thick with minerals, but the tea is remedial. He breathes from the oxygen tank for minutes. Zao’s assistant covers him with a shawl.

Your brother sends his regards, and I thank you for your hospitality. But why me? My profession is unrelated to cultural affairs.

I know this is an ordeal, but we must act out the cover story. Follow me to the storage area. My assistant will cart the oxygen tank for you.

The storage room contains a desk and work benches. Zao rolls a pad across the desktop.

My monks are building shipping crates for the museum donations, but I have personal items for you.

Zao opens a large drawer in the base of a Buddha figure and removes a modest-sized steel container heavy enough to be a struggle. When the assistant grows anxious at the sight of the box, Zao dismisses him with a nod. He produces a complicated circular key, pauses for a breath, unlocks the box, and lifts out two items, each wrapped in canvas. He places them on the desktop pad as if they are hot.

These are yours.

Why? says Chang, sucking from the oxygen bottle.

Those are my instructions.

Instructed from whom?

Zao pauses. You must hear the story.

Chang slumps in surrender. Please continue.

One hundred years ago, after the Phoenix War, a Russian scientist named Alexi Kosovich Sarkov came to Lhasa with three atlantium machines. When the military powers of that day converted their nuclear weapons to neutron devices with a radioactive half-life of decades instead of millennia, they fell into a Phoenix trap.

Zao smiles at Chang’s surprise and says, I’m an apostate scientist and know these things. Since the new warheads were no longer planet killers, governments were less reluctant to use them. Phoenix expected the super-powers to destroy each other, but a global nuclear exchange did not happen. However, those weapons contained a hidden failsafe beneficial to Phoenix. An electromagnetic plasma pulse could remotely trigger their detonators. This prevents using them against Phoenix. It nearly destroyed Russia and China when their own weapons detonated in their silos.

Chinese historians say this was an Alliance attack turned back by valiant Chinese soldiers, Chang says. How much damage to the western powers?

Details are sketchy, but the Alliance used 300-year-old red mercury shielding to protect their weapons, but that is unconfirmed. Sarkov came to China because our infrastructure survived and because the western nations would execute him. Within 20 years, China became the leading supplier of coal, thanks to Sarkov’s atlantium tunneling machines.

I’m guessing that forbidden atlantium machines became a problem.

A secret Alliance group pinpointed Sarkov’s location and were on the way to capture him for trial during the early days of the World Trade Commission. This would bring a crippling global boycott against Chinese coal, Zao says.

I smell a double cross.

We denied knowledge of atlantium machines and pretended agreement with the WTC. China fires missiles on Sarkov’s mining operation. Chinese cooperation was satisfactory to the Alliance and the WTC.

I still don’t understand why I am here.

For the next 50 years China remains the leading supplier of coal based on mining tunnels bored by Sarkov’s machines. When production lagged, they excavated Sarkov’s central mining operation and discovered items inside this safe.

He uncovers the smaller of the two objects and lets it hang by the gold necklace. Chang can tell it is a medallion relief-engraved with the stylized figure of a phoenix. Chang becomes dizzy and disoriented as the medallion swings from the necklace.

The icon was on display in the mining company’s executive office and sometimes worn by the CEO for special events. However, the first CEO experienced a psychotic break and other company leaders suffered out-of-body episodes when in prolonged proximity to the icon.

He notices Chang is more extremely susceptible to the effects. The icon is tuning itself to Chang’s mind.

Zao continues. They transferred these items here for safe-keeping.

My presence remains a mystery. Solve that riddle before I pass out.

Priests began experiencing similar out-of-body dreams, but with something new. Voices foretold a holy man bringing new prosperity to this world.

And the other item?

The medallion powers this box.

When Zao dangles it near the 6-inch cube, Chang sees unknown characters scrolling across rows of display windows.

My fellow priests describe it as a soul link to the coming holy man.

When does this holy man arrive?

You are that holy man. The voices identified you by name.

Chapter 2-Proof of Concept

START IT UP, CHANG orders.

Chin Sun Lu has grave misgivings. The previous machine flew apart, killing his mentor, Kim Ling. Chang does not want to lose another bright engineer because that threatens production deadlines. They now use a control room in a remote bunker.

The rotor, comprising several atlantium crystals, belches fumes of burned ozone as it spins. This generator is an unrefined proof-of-concept machine. The voltage output is enough to turn armatures containing atlantium crystals in the opposite directions.

Current and voltage readings increase in unpredictable surges. This is the most dangerous part. Lu holds a trembling hand over the red emergency shutoff button.

However, the atlantium regulator supplies a bias through the feedback loop to control the current flow and voltage spikes. Lu turns the control knob until the output power increases to the upper readings.

When the resonance chambers flash, the device produces much more power than it uses. The generator noise grows steady, but even with 500 feet of rock between the test chamber and the control bunker, it sounds like a rocket engine.

Chin Lu moves his hand from the emergency shutdown button, and slouches in the chair. The regulator circuits work perfectly.

One reason Doctor Ling took Lu under his wing was that Lu spoke fluent Russian. But Chang’s approval also includes the fact that Lu harbors a seething rage against the Beijing government.

His parents died from managerial malfeasance to satisfy an arbitrary government deadline. Lu’s willingness to destroy Beijing without hesitation or regret, along with his scientific talents, makes his discovery a grand stroke of luck.

And the speed governor is holding at 30,000 RPM, Lu adds.

Is antenna station number one receiving the transmitted power?

Station one reports everything works as expected.

And stations two and three?

The same, Lu confirms. We are transmitting wireless electrical power in a 360-degree radiation pattern. All antennas are receiving equal power.

Now, it is Chang’s turn to relax. Phase two is next.

High Advisor Zing Lin Cho from Beijing is here.

Lu speaks the words from Beijing as if presenting evidence for a summary execution. But Lu knows he must swallow the bitter bile of his rage a little longer.

Bring him in. He will try to bring his entourage, but tell him we are meeting in a small control room full of scientific equipment. Have our operators step out.

Cho craves ceremony.

He’s a pompous ass, but no ceremony today. Reassure him our meeting is brief and secure.

Chang watches the gate camera video as Lu argues with Advisor Cho. Lu is deferential and conciliatory, but Cho is slow to concede to Chang’s conditions. This confirms Chang’s suspicions that Beijing is ready to meet his production demands. Otherwise, Cho would have stormed off early.

The advisor pouts like a child about using a common work chair. But Chang knows how to smooth ruffled feathers.

We must implement the next phase of our intrigue, and that requires the utmost security. Chang says. A private celebration is in order.

Cho’s predilection for court intrigue is legendary, as long as Cho is privy to advantageous secrets. Chang retrieves two gold-encrusted shot glasses and fills them with Alliance Bourbon, Cho’s secret vice. They down their shots together.

Chang refills their glasses. Let me explain Phase 2 of the global power con we will play on the World Trade Commission. The generator, transmitter, and receiving antennas work to perfection. I will use the next few days to confirm the maximum range of the system.

What is the deception I must foist on the commission?

We will give the WTC a demonstration that proves wireless global electrical power is possible, Chang says. We will claim we are amplifying it from earth’s ley line grid. But I am producing it from an atlantium generator-transmitter.

So that’s where the name GridTronix originates. I’m surprised you believe in ley-lines.

The properties of the ley grid are not the issue, Chang says. If anyone discovers we are using an atlantium generator, the trade commission will shut us down, confiscate everything, and boycott China for fifty years.

So the con is that we are amplifying power from the grid. But won’t the Alliance detect an atlantium machine?

I can prevent the Alliance from detecting our atlantium, and the commission will uphold our claims to proprietary knowledge. Beijing must never know I can manufacture atlantium. Your reward is that you take all the credit when GridTronix becomes the sole supplier of global energy.

Beijing will demand all your secrets, Cho says.

They must believe we are generating power from ley lines, not atlantium, Lu says. Beijing must think they have all the secrets.

I must play your con on both the World Trade Commission and the Chinese government. That is a death-defying act.

You are the master of intrigue, Chang says. China will become the world’s greatest nation, your emperor will become the king of all humanity, and you will be his closest advisor.

They will demand all your science and your designs for generating power from the ley grid. That must be convincing.

I will leave out key parts of the technology, Chang says. That is my safety net for staying alive. I will send those key elements to you only when I’m sure you will outlive me, or to your designated agent if I outlive you.

Intrigues within intrigues, Cho says.

Beijing will preside over a glorious world empire through our worldwide electrical power network, Chang says.

I will convince the emperor of the virtues of this enterprise, Cho says. Is a demonstration possible for the trade commission meeting next month?

It will be impressive, Chang promises. Lu will deliver my production requirements and timetables to your adjutant.

As Cho prepares to leave, Chang hands him an ivory box containing a large bottle of Alliance Bourbon.

The box is mastodon tusk, Chang says. And since you’re playing this dangerous role, you are the only person in the world with his own piece of green atlantium.

Lu steps forward with a small tray holding jewelry of exceptional beauty and craftsmanship. An ornate gold setting, attached to a gold necklace, holds the brilliant green crystal.

Keep it on you, Chang says. If anyone asks, say the crystal is rare jade. Your safety net for a long and prosperous life is less secure than mine. The emperor must never doubt your loyalty or believe you have aspirations to the throne. Send my regards to your brother.

Beijing does not hold my brother, the priest, in high regard. He threw his scientific education aside to pursue his monastic life. In their eyes, he’s a traitor.

Your brother plays a part in this endeavor.

Discovering he serves the emperor will displease him. What irony.

Once he is alone, Chang attaches the box to his laptop, and dangles the icon in front of the scanner. A computer prompt and a Phoenix symbol signifying a connection appears in seconds. The icon still disorients Chang.

Chang senses the icon is changing his mind in subtle ways, but that no longer causes concern. He occasionally has premonitions that come true and insights into advanced scientific concepts he would never conceive on his own.

The icon tells him to wear it, but he puts that off. He fears losing his mind if it’s hanging from his neck for hours.

There is a 20-second delay between text messages caused by the running of a sizeable security and translation program. Phoenix starts the conversation.

Does the clone version of atlantium work? I ask because there are gaps in the data we stole.

A preliminary test has worked, but it is inadequate in its present form. However, it is almost impossible to detect compared to the red version.

When can you begin realignment of earth’s ley-grid?

I need to make the manufactured atlantium stronger, otherwise I will require a thousand generators and the emperor will be reluctant. I reported the success of Phase One to Beijing, but I cannot deliver a global system until I produce stronger atlantium.

There is someone who can increase the atlantium field strength. Get on the scancom when he arrives. Are the Chinese committed so far?

Cho proposes GridTronix to the World Trade Commission next month. If accepted as the supplier of global wireless electricity, I will have enough machines for grid realignment in less than a year. Do the rebels still control the government?

Yes. The former Elites are now the rebels. That changes after the invasion.

I will update my progress. Out.

Lu enters the control room and asks, How goes the rebellion?

We are back on schedule. We will soon have a mystery visitor.

And Cho?

Cho is being entrained by Phoenix, thanks to his jewelry.

Chapter 3-Rendezvous

YURI VASILOVICH KOSMOV, the descendant of a Russian premier, has grave reservations about this computer file. It appeared during intensive testing of his entrainment experiments. He wants to open it anyway, and that terrifies him. Is this mystery file the next step in his mental entrainment by a competitor, or is the truth stranger than his genius intellect can imagine?

He recently used group entrainment to allow building his lab in the desirable business district of St. Petersburg Harbor. Access to a deep-water harbor with full facilities is good for business.

Yuri built his prototype low frequency transmitter system on a reconditioned 800-foot ocean tanker while harbored in Greenland. The village approved his use of their harbor after he used earth penetrating tomography, EPT, to drill a geothermal vent that keeps the port warm year round. Warm water is the new indicator of prosperity in the northern regions.

Business soon flourishes for the village and for the Kosmov EPT Company. He uses his commercial fortune to fund a sinister agenda involving mind control science.

Regions pay a handsome fee for a warm water port above the 60 degree latitude. If Yuri miscalculates and makes the water too warm for fish, those places become vacation spas where thousands enjoy hot water debauchery during the winter months. He soon becomes a billionaire.

His earth penetrating tomography equipment uses the same extreme low frequency generators and transmitters he uses for mind control. He hides his entrainment system in plain view. But if the Russian government learns about mind control, they will get greedy.

Yuri calls the St. Petersburg business robber baron capitalism. It is not true capitalism because there is no competition. No other European port can dock as many ships and transfer as much cargo. They invite only the most capable businesses to set up shop here.

In return, these businesses receive Russian Navy convoy protection against pirates or against other governments. The Russians also provide top quality port security and police services. It is in their best interest to look after the welfare of their billionaire port customers. The more money the customers make, the bigger the St. Petersburg cut.

But amid his empire-building, this mystery file appears. Yuri sometimes uses the tactic of a mystery file. Some individuals can resist radio frequency entrainment. It is a tricky process requiring as much art as science.

The signal is a series of ELF bursts that sweep between 1/2 to 30 cycles per second. Test subjects report the sound of a distant woodpecker. When an idle brain locks onto this signal, sensory equipment reads the brainwave.

They step through a series of radio waves and note the frequencies that excite those centers of the brain encouraging euphoria, trust, fear, imagination, and memories. But they sometimes encounter someone who remains too active, even during sleep, to entrain and read their brainwave.

He must add a visual ingredient to the process. Yuri sends a computer file that acts as a hypnotic device. Then he scans the mind for extensive entrainment and leaves no memory. The file deletes itself and the subject regains real-time perception while staring at a screen saver.

Yuri fears this mystery file is such a device. To open it will seal his fate to another’s will without him knowing. But who would have this knowledge?

He plays it safe and saves the file on a flash drive. The small file size, maybe a few lines of text, surprises him.

An hour later, the file is ready to open. It transfers to another computer without self-destructing the file or damaging the computer. A lab assistant prepares to open the file in a bare room inside an empty warehouse.

But the bare room is not empty. Besides the computer, small table, and folding chair, there is also an intercom speaker, and a small camera positioned so that Yuri cannot see the computer screen.