Part 18 (1/2)

”And when you were standing or kneeling over them, did the crystal counteract their higher gravity?”

Ryan frowned. Carl had a point. He would have made a great scientist. ”Maybe you have to be holding it when the wave hits,” said Ryan. Or else have had your mind opened to the possibilities of the fourth dimension, thought Ryan.

”I'm sorry, Ryan,” said Carl earnestly. ”More sorry than you'll ever know. But I can't risk Nathaniel getting away on the hope that the crystal will work. On an untested theory.”

Ryan pursed his lips together in frustration and shook his head sadly. There was nothing to say. He hated what Carl was doing. Carl hated what Carl was doing. But Ryan knew the security chief had no other choice. And while Carl would have to face Alyssa and Kelsey, so would he. Ryan had promised them their mom would be okay. While Carl had given them nothing but the truth, Ryan had given them false hope; a fantasy.

The phone rang. Carl took a deep breath and picked it up.

Ryan's eyes widened!

At just that instant he realized what he had been missing. What his sister had broadcast that had made him uneasy. It was just before he left Isis to rejoin Alyssa and Kelsey at the zoo building.

Regan had told him she was glad being on Earth had brought him back to his senses.

That was it! Returning to Earth had cured him. Almost instantly.

But returning to Earth hadn't cured Carl.

It had taken Ryan's mom about twenty minutes to find a Med-Pen. Yet Carl's emotional state had not improved during that time.

What did this mean? Had Carl's emotional state been worse even than Ryan's? Was it somehow of a different quality? And if so, why?

And if a Med-Pen had never been used on Carl, would the negative emotional effects of Isis have ever worn off?

Ryan's every instinct told him the answers to these questions were vitally important. As Carl discussed strategy and tactics with the pilot of a jet fighter flying many miles above Nathaniel Smith-and Mich.e.l.le Cooper-Ryan's mind raced.

His mouth dropped open as he came to a startling conclusion. Could it really be true? He needed to think it through. Be absolutely sure he was right.

”Alright, Captain McGann,” said Carl. ”Arm the missiles. Wait until he's clear of cars and farmhouses and then commence firing. I repeat, you have a green light to engage. Do you copy?”

”Copy that, sir,” said the captain.

”Stop!” screamed Ryan. ”Call it off.”

”Ryan, we've been through this,” said Carl irritably, his ear still pressed against the phone. ”My decision has been made.”

”No. You don't understand. Nathaniel isn't the one behind this.”

Ryan leaned forward intently. ”You're about to bomb the wrong person.”

CHAPTER 30.

Decoy

”Have you lost your mind?” said Carl.

Ryan stared at the security chief with a blazing intensity. ”Carl, if you've ever trusted me before,” he said evenly, ”trust me now. You're about to make a terrible mistake.”

Colonel Carl Sharp looked deep into Ryan's green eyes and saw nothing but certainty. Ryan and his sister had shown themselves to possess excellent instincts time and again. He made up his mind in an instant.

”Abort, abort, abort!” Carl barked into the receiver. ”Stand down, Captain McGann. I repeat, stand down. Do you copy?”

”Copy that, sir. Standing down.”

”Hold position and await further instructions,” said Carl. He reached over and hit the mute b.u.t.ton on the phone so the captain couldn't hear their conversation. ”Only because it's you, Ryan. Only because it's you. You had better make your points quickly.”

”Nathaniel is a decoy,” said Ryan breathlessly. ”Mich.e.l.le Cooper isn't his hostage. Nathaniel is her hostage.”

Carl tilted his head in confusion. ”What?”

”I told you the wildlife of Isis was relentlessly hostile to our expedition. You and I discussed why that might have happened. Well I figured it out. They can receive and transmit a kind of telepathic energy that hits the emotional centers of human brains. It drives us into a rage. Our emotional energy does the same to them.”

”Ryan, get to the point. This has nothing to do with your theory that Nathaniel is a decoy,” said Carl.

”It does,” insisted Ryan. ”Just let me explain. You told me you were in an insane rage on Isis when you shot those creatures. Well everyone on our expedition experienced a similar rage.” Ryan spoke as quickly as he could, racing to finish before Carl ran out of patience. ”And after you shot the animals, when you were retreating in the tram that day, Mom was in a rage too. She told me. One she couldn't understand. And Bob Zubrin told me the same thing.”

His mother and Bob had never really said this but Ryan knew from experience that this almost had to be true.

Carl nodded. ”Now that I think of it, you're right. Everyone was screaming at everyone else. We all acted out of character, even for an emergency. Not just me.”

”What about Mich.e.l.le Cooper?”

Carl paused, searching his memory. A few seconds later he frowned deeply. ”Your mom was yelling that I shouldn't have shot the last few animals. Mich.e.l.le leaned over and hissed in my ear that she wished she had shot them. Or ripped the things apart with her bare hands.”

”Is that something you would expect Mich.e.l.le to say?” said Ryan. ”No matter what was happening?”

”No,” said Carl, a troubled look coming over his face. ”I wouldn't.” He paused. ”I've tried to put that day out of my mind. Until you jogged my memory just now, I had forgotten she had even said this.”

”When I was on Isis,” said Ryan, ”I couldn't have been angrier. But this stopped when I got back to Earth. Very quickly. As soon as I removed myself from the field being generated by the Isis animals. It must have been the same for my mother and Bob Zubrin. But it was different for you.” He paused. ”How long were you back on Earth before Mom could find a Med-Pen?” asked Ryan, already knowing the answer.

”Fifteen or twenty minutes.”

”You told me your emotional state didn't improve during that time. And it wasn't because of the pain. The Med-Pen relieves pain instantly. But you said you didn't feel emotionally normal until five minutes after the device had been used. That's because the changes in your brain were like an infection, and the Med-Pen took five minutes to cure you.”

Carl considered this. He had to admit Ryan was making some good points. But Nathaniel would be entering a populated area again in eight minutes. Carl's window of opportunity was closing fast. ”Ryan, I need to order the strike.”

”Just a little longer,” said Ryan, and then he hastily continued. ”The way I figure it there are two levels of crazy you can get from the animals of Isis. The first level is just from the energy traveling through the air and hitting your brain. The second level is far more intense. It's when you are actually touching one of them when their hatred explodes. Like both you and Mich.e.l.le were doing. You stepped on one of the creatures. Mich.e.l.le was resting her feet on one of them. When their hate-filled, poisonous emotional energy surged, you two received it full blast through your legs. You both got ma.s.sive doses through this point of contact. Far more potent than if it had traveled through the air.”

”Hold on,” said Carl. He un-muted the phone. ”Captain McGann, are you still in position?”

”Affirmative, sir.”