Hero Born: Project Solaris Read online

  It took several attempts to remove a small black box about the size of a cell phone. I held it up for Jillian to inspect.

  She seized the device, then pushed her hand through the van's side door. It rippled around her, just like the doors back at Initech had. When she pulled her hand back in, it was empty.

  "Let's see them track us now," she said, giving me the first smile since the rescue.

  "I could kiss you," I said, laughing. Damn, it felt good to be alive.

  "Uh, I'm still here," Kali called from the front seat. "How about you guys make out later? We need a plan. David just got kidnapped by super-powered alien G-men, and we just double-crossed one of the most powerful corporations in the world, one led by a guy we know is centuries old."

  We'd covered a lot of ground very quickly, and were passing the Palace of Fine Arts as we began to the gradual ascent toward the Golden Gate Bridge. It loomed in front of us, the hills on the other side promising at least temporary reprieve from the nightmare we'd just escaped.

  "So what are we going to do?" Kali asked, glancing at me as she accelerated. I was impressed by how well she was keeping it together, though maybe that was because she hadn't seen the grey man, or the beast that Yuri had presumably killed.

  "I have a rough plan," I said, shifting so I could see both Jillian in the back and Kali in the front. "We need answers. Jillian do you still have the memory crystal?"

  "Yeah," Jillian replied, fishing it out her inner jacket pocket. She tried to hand it to me, but I shook my head.

  "Not right now. We can examine it when we get somewhere safe." I turned back to the bridge, considering. "I went to college in Santa Rosa, about forty miles north. There's a motel across from the school that will take cash, which gives us a place to hide while we figure things out. My anthropology professor is a pretty smart guy. I trust him, and he might be able to help us make sense of all this."

  We sped onto the Golden Gate Bridge, heading north. I took the opportunity to slide back into the back seat, next to Jillian. Her eyes were wide and inviting as she watched me. I leaned in closer, giving her a smile that I hoped left no doubt about my intentions.

  Jillian blushed, averting her eyes. I cupped her chin, and went in for the kiss I'd never finished when we were fourteen. The world melted away, and in that instant there was only one thing-- Jillian. Her scent, clean and heady, just like it had been all those years ago. Her soft lips, something I'd imagined in dreams many times over the years. We lingered there for an eternity, lost in each other.

  Chapter 17- Investigating

  I awoke to the heavenly smell of greasy fast food and coffee. The bed creaked as I sat up, blinking away sleep as I looked around the room. We were on the 2nd floor of a small hotel on Mendocino Boulevard, across from Santa Rosa Junior College. Late morning sun streamed through the thin curtains.

  The room had two queen beds, and Jillian was blinking awake in the other one, where she and Kali had slept the night before. Her long dark hair was mussed, which somehow made her even more attractive than usual. I wished we'd had enough privacy for more than a kiss.

  Kali was shouldering open the door, wearing black yoga pants, a pair of UGG boots, and a fleece jacket. It was like the uniform of the college freshman, though Kali was about a year short of pulling it off. She still wore her glasses, but the new clothing transformed her from wallflower nerd into hot young hipster.

  "Is the outfit too much? I saw a lot of the girls on the campus across the street wearing this stuff, and I figured I should blend in. I bought it with cash, so we won't be tracked," she said, looking down at herself self-consciously. She moved to the room's one chair, setting two big McDonald's bags on the table, then adding a tray of coffee cups. "I didn't know what you guys were into, so I got a bunch of stuff."

  "You are an angel, and the clothing looks great. You'll fit in when we head over to the campus later today." I rolled out of the bed, still wearing my clothes from the night before. I felt disgusting, but a shower could wait. Even though we'd raided a gas station convenience store for snacks on the drive to Santa Rosa I was still ravenous.

  Two Egg McMuffins and a hash brown later, I gave a contented sigh and settled back onto the bed with a cup of coffee. I propped the pillows against the wall, and relaxed for the first time in days.

  Jillian had gone at her breakfast with similar gusto, though Kali was more reserved.

  "I wonder," I said, considering. "I still feel like I could sleep for another day, and I don't remember ever being that hungry."

  "Yup," Jillian said, popping half a hash brown into her mouth. She spoke around mouthfuls, covering her mouth with her hand. "Our powers take a lot out of us, mentally and physically. We eat more than we used to, and if you use your powers a lot you sleep like the dead. Sitting in the sun seems to help, too."

  "Which explains why I'm the only one not eating like a wild bear. You guys didn't let me burn anything." Kali brushed a lock of hair from her face, moving to sit at the foot of my bed. It was the first time I'd seen her with her hair down, and it strengthened the resemblance to Jillian. "So what now, team?"

  "Now we get some answers," I said, turning to Jillian. "Can I have the crystal?"

  "Of course." She set her coffee on the nightstand, and retrieved the crystal from her jacket. She handed it across to me, then sat on her bed.

  As before, the moment I touched the crystal it flared a brilliant green. A moment later the spectral image of my mother appeared in the corner of the room. Her expression was incredibly lifelike, all motherly concern.

  "Thank god you're all right," she said, expression warming to a smile. "I feared the worst when you didn't reactivate me right away."

  "Oh my god, what the hell is that?" Kali said, gawking at the hologram.

  "I'm a memory crystal." Mom replied, mimicking Kali's tone of voice. She gave her a wink and a playful smile. "Think of me as a copy of David's mother."

  "Dorothy, this is my cousin Kali." Jillian gestured at Kali. "She's also been taken, and the grey men have given her abilities. If you were, well, the real version of you, we'd be inducting her into our cell right now."

  "Pleased to meet you, Kali," Mom said, then turned back to me. "So fill me in. Where are we and what have you learned?"

  I looked at Jillian, and she nodded at me. I took a deep breath, focusing on Mom again. "We've got more questions than answers. Doctor Usir, and Mohn Corp, helped Jillian rescue me from agents of the grey men. The agent who captured me was the guy I worked for at Initech, and it turns out the project I was working on is designed to communicate with the grey men's home world."

  "Come again?" Jillian said, blinking at me.

  "That's right, I haven't had a chance to fill you in on everything, either," I said. "Dick, the agent who was interrogating me, wanted to recruit me to help finish the project. We were working on a way to project data faster than light. The idea was to create a faster internet that can be used anywhere in the world, or that's what I signed on for, anyway. Turns out the project is a smokescreen to create a way for the grey men to phone home."

  "They can't call home?" Kali asked.

  "That's what I said, too." I shrugged. "Dick doesn't know why they can't do it on their own either, but I suspect the answer will be important."

  "What else have you learned?" Mom asked. She glanced at the McDonald's bags. "And, dear god, why are you eating that crap? It's terrible for you."

  I ignored the jibe about the food. Mom had always been able to lecture me about eating healthy, while lighting up another cigarette. The hypocrisy wasn't lost on me, but I was far too happy to see her to let it bother me. "Jillian?"

  "Usir was all too willing to help us rescue David. He claims that anything the grey men want, he wants to oppose," she said.

  "That makes sense. We don't know much about Usir, but I learned some details. Like I said before, he's older than he appears. A lot older. Project Solaris, Mohn's experiments with supers,
goes back to at least the early eighties," Mom said, frowning. "I'd start there. Also, we need to learn more about Object 3, whatever it is, and we know it's vitally important to the grey men. My investigation suggests he's holding it in Mohn's San Francisco office, but I was never able to confirm that. I still don't even know what it is, except that it's old and has something to do with the grey men."

  "I might have some answers about that--well, I might have some clues, anyway," Kali said, withdrawing her laptop from the backpack on the floor next to her. She opened it, scanning something.

  "Don't keep us in suspense," Mom said, planting her hands on her hips.

  "I was curious about this Mohn Corp, and I had a couple hours to kill this morning while I was waiting for you guys to wake up," Kali said. She swept her long hair from her face as she looked back at the screen. "Did you know Mohn Corp is the world's leader in funding for archeological digs? That seems really odd for a tech company, so I started looking into that. My mom was really interested in Egyptology, and I was pretty much raised on documentaries. It wasn't hard figuring out the common thread to what Mohn's funding."

  "You found a connection?" I asked, rising from the bed and moving to stand behind Kali so I could see the screen. Kali had several tabs open in Google images, one for Cambodia, another for Egypt, and a third for Mexico.

  "Look," she said, cycling between the images. Each showed an archeological dig. "Notice anything? Each dig site is connected to a pyramid. Every culture Mohn is interested in worshipped the same structure."

  It seemed there was a lot more to Kali than the shy, distracted, teen she pretended to be. I'd never have considered investigating how Mohn Corp invested their money, and I doubted Jillian would have, either. Kali had caught something both of us had missed, and demonstrated a knowledge of archeology far beyond the single semester I'd taken.

  "Nice catch," I said, as I studied the screen. "The question is why? What is it about pyramids that's so important to Mohn Corp?"

  "I don't know," Kali said, shifting to face me. "But if you think that's interesting, wait until you hear this. During my research I looked into Usir. There's a link to a Wikipedia page, which claims that Usir is another name for Osiris. That's the Egyptian god of the dead."

  "We need to find someone who knows more about Egypt. Maybe they can shed some light on the Osiris connection, or on why a corporation would spend millions digging up pyramids," Jillian said. She bit her lip. "I don't think Auntie Hateya would know anything useful, and contacting her might be risky. David?"

  "I wanted to talk to Professor Smith anyway, that's the guy I mentioned last night," I said. I gave her a victorious smile. "During my second semester, I took Meso-American anthropology. It was a fun course, and for a little while I considered becoming an anthropologist. Professor Smith knew all about pyramids. I'll give him a call, and see if we can pay him a visit today."

  Chapter 18- No Such Thing As Werewolves

  Professor Smith wasn't available to see us until after class that afternoon, so I did what any sensible fugitive does. I slept like the dead until about twenty-five minutes before we were supposed to meet him.

  Kali shook me lightly awake, and I fumbled groggily to my feet. I was still tired, but the additional five-hour nap meant I at least felt human. My clothing was still soiled from my, uh, situation during my captivity, but I couldn't smell it and hoped no one else could either.

  "I used the last of my cash to do some more shopping while you were asleep," Kali said, giving me a warm smile. She produced a Ross bag, fishing out a T-shirt, socks, underwear, and--mother of god--a clean pair of jeans. "I hope they fit and aren't too cheesy. I didn't really know what you wear."

  "It's perfect," I said, shucking out of my soiled shirt and pulling on the clean one.

  "I'm going to head to the JC library to do a little more research while you and Jillian visit this professor," she said, setting the Ross bag on the table. "I got a few things for Jillian too. How long do you think you guys will be?"

  "An hour, maybe?" I said, fairly certain we could do it in that time. "We'll swing by the library to get you when we're done."

  Kali gave a nod, picking up her laptop as she headed for the door. She slipped out quietly, but the door opening still woke Jillian.

  "Issit time to go?" a sleepy Jillian said, worming her way out of the blankets. She blinked blearily awake, slipping from the bed. She wore nothing but a long T-shirt, which exposed tantalizingly bare legs.

  "I think so," I said, glancing at the clock. I took twenty seconds to straighten my hair as best I could, then started putting on the rest of the clothes Kali had brought. "Kali bought you some new clothes. They're in the bag on the table."

  "I love that kid," Jillian said, scooping up the bag as she walked into the bathroom. She emerged less than five minutes later, looking like she'd spent a day at the spa. I'd have given just about anything to know how ladies managed to do that.

  She'd brushed her hair, changed into a pair of black yoga pants and a long blue sweater, and even added a bit of lipstick and some blush. She'd transformed into the typical college student, a smart disguise given where we were.

  Of course I'd managed the same thing accidentally. I resembled a student who'd stayed up all night playing World of Warcraft, then stumbled into the only class I hadn't managed to miss that day.

  I led Jillian from the room. We trotted across the street to the wide lawn in front of the administrations building. Some things were the same. The giant oak tree was still there, complete with a half-dozen kids sitting in a circle chatting.

  Other parts were different. They'd finally finished the three story brick parking garage where the lot used to be. I'd have bet a whole lot of students were happy about not having to park three blocks from school. I threaded between buildings, enjoying the feeling of nostalgia. That surprised me, as I'd only been gone for two years. I hadn't even gotten a degree.

  We finally reached the anthropology building, a three-story brick structure with dozens of classrooms. I held open the door for Jillian, admiring the view as she walked past. She slipped into the air-conditioned hallway, pausing to wait for me. Rows of stadium seating ringed the room, with a raised stage up against one wall. I'd attended a lot of lectures here, and still pictured it full of students despite it being empty. The only other person was Professor Smith, a mousy-looking scholar in his mid-thirties. He wore the same Harry Potter style glasses he'd had when I was a student, and had the same mussed, dirty-blond hair.

  "David," he said, smiling warming as we approached. "I was quite surprised to hear from you. Welcome back."

  "Thanks for seeing us, Professor Smith," I said, extending a hand. He shook it.

  "Please, call me Blair. I'm not your teacher any longer. So what brings you to the alma mater? Your email was pretty vague."

  I hesitated for just an instant. I felt I could trust Professor Smith with what was going on, but did I really want to draw him into all this? No, that wasn't fair. So I decided to lie. Awkwardly.

  "My friend Jillian is a writer," I said, gesturing at Jillian. "She's working on a techno thriller and had some questions about how several ancient cultures might be related."

  "Ahh," the professor replied, eyes going flat. "This isn't going to be one of those 'prehistoric alien' style books is it? I can assure you there's no such thing as werewolves, elves aren't real, and aliens didn't build the pyramids."

  Jillian choked. Loudly. She blinked a couple of times, recovering quickly. "Not exactly, no. It's more of an Atlantis conspiracy style book."

  "Ahh," the professor repeated. He didn't seem any more enamored with that idea. "What sort of help do you need?"

  "Let's say a corporation was digging in Egypt, Cambodia, and Mexico," Jillian said, darting me a glance that promised swift death when we left. "What might they be hoping to find? Is there a common thread between all three cultures?"

  "Well, there's the obvious," the professor said, giving a shrug as he began packi
ng papers into his brief case. "All three built pyramids. I suspect you already knew that though, which is why you picked those three. I'm not surprised you're asking for more. That's a pretty flimsy connection, and one that's been done to death. Badly."

  "So there are other connections?" I asked, trying to take a little pressure off Jillian.

  "Several, yes. First, there's the common history. All three cultures have similar creation myths, and all three believed that time is cyclic," Smith explained. "I'm sure you've heard all that 2012 nonsense. It was kicked off by the Mayans and their belief in the long count. They believed that when the count ended the age would turn, though they were frustratingly non-specific about exactly what that meant. Most scholars assume it was just a way for them to mark time, and that we're looking too hard for meaning that isn't there."

  "And Egypt has similar myths?" Jillian asked.

  "Remarkably. They teach that their gods emerged from a great flood that wiped out the world, and that another such flood would one day come again." The professor adjusted his glasses, somehow managing to look even more owlish in the process. "In a nutshell, their Book of the Dead taught that it was possible the entire world might be wiped out, leaving Osiris and his legion of the dead as the only survivors. He was their god of the underworld. This fate wasn't certain though. The Egyptians believed it might be avoided, though they didn't say how.

  "They also believed in cosmic cycles, which is where the connection to the Mayans comes in," he continued. "Their calendars were similar, and the Egyptians believed that there were many ages, just like the Greeks, the Cambodians and half a dozen other cultures. Does that give you enough to work with?"

  "The Osiris stuff is interesting," Jillian said, perking up. "I don't suppose he's based on a real figure? Someone in history? And was there anyone similar in the other cultures?"

  "Some Egyptian deities are based on real figures, like Imhotep. Osiris, unfortunately, was not. At least as far as we know," Smith said, giving an apologetic shrug. "There are similar figures in other mythology though, which is interesting since they're separated by thousands of miles and just as many years. It's interesting that several cultures seem to follow parallel lines, though I doubt that's because of any real connection between them. Still, it might be useful if you're pursuing the Atlantis angle. Each of these cultures was built on the bones of an even older culture, one that some people believe was quite a bit more advanced than anything that came after."