We’re not sure who’s paying him, but it might still be a government agency, or . . . Booker Lipton.”
“Why am I not surprised? Damn it, I wish I were on the ground.” Taz twisted the gold ring on his middle finger, a Mayan scull, and turned his attention back to the former residence of Gaines and Asher, now also known as Rick and Terry Bradley.
Images began streaming from his Eysen-INU. He could see a cup of tea on the kitchen table, still half full, a plate of nori rolls beside it. “They left in a hurry, obviously to get to the hospital. They didn’t take the time to sterilize the place,” Taz said out loud, though he was mostly talking to himself. “We may find something helpful here.”
Chapter 11
Huang knew the connection was scrambled nine different ways and routed across the globe like a crazed ping-pong ball. The call was safe. Still, he double-checked the encryption codes before telling Rip the bad news. Only hours had passed since they last spoke, but to Rip it felt as if it had been years.
“I don’t want to tell you this,” Huang said reluctantly.
“Gale?” Rip asked, trying not to panic.
“Cira. She’s alive, okay, but . . . ”
“What?”
“There was an accident on the playground. Her eyes were cut with scissors.”
Rip’s whole body tightened, his mouth went dry, thinking of his sweet angel suffering, bleeding, her eyes. Her eyes ! “No, oh please no!”
“She had an operation. May need more, but they think she will see again.”
Rip’s fears and desperate worry swelled into confusion and anger. “Does Booker know?” Rip demanded, then answered his own question before continuing his rant. “Of course he knows. If you know, he knows. What’s his problem? I know what he’s doing! He knew I’d never come here without them.” Rip pounded his hand on the table and glanced out the windows at the water—nothing but water for a million miles. “Can you get Gale on the phone? Can you connect me to their room?”
“I can try, but it would not be safe for them.”
“Wait . . . Cira’s accident was the breach, wasn’t it? The hospital link . . . The NSA is heading to Fiji! Everyone is heading to Fiji! Are they out? How much time will they have to get out? Are they on the move . . . damn it, can they even move Cira yet?”
“You need to talk to Booker.”
“You bet I need to talk to him. I need to do more than talk to him. Damn, damn, damn!” Rip pulled up the emergency section of his Eysen-INU, but the connection didn’t go through. It was the first time he’d been unable to reach Booker since they went into hiding after their “deaths.” Rip wasn’t sure if Booker was just avoiding him or if something horrible had happened. “Huang, get me in touch with Gale or Booker, please .”
“I’ll try.”
Rip could only wait until Huang worked his magic, but as the minutes since their call ended began adding up, he realized he was not completely powerless. Although trapped on the remote and beautiful island of El Perdido—or “El Prison,” as Gale had always called it—Rip possessed the most powerful object known to man.
“To hold all the stars in your hands,” Rip whispered to himself as he held the Eysen-Sphere in the sun, then gently set it down above the Odeon Chip on a teakwood table. A moment later it levitated and images projected out.
Each session was always like his first: the indescribable wonders, the lights, the magical floating Sphere shining out visions of the universe, Earth, humanity’s past . . . and the blurry future. He stood yet again in awe, as if dancing in a dream, surrounded by clouds and stars in a gentle rain of colors.
They had learned so much, but the most important questions concerning the eleven-million-year-old treasure still remained unanswered. Rip had dubbed the people who created the Eysen the Cosegans, named for his once controversial Cosega theory. Cosega, an old Indian word meaning “before the
“Why am I not surprised? Damn it, I wish I were on the ground.” Taz twisted the gold ring on his middle finger, a Mayan scull, and turned his attention back to the former residence of Gaines and Asher, now also known as Rick and Terry Bradley.
Images began streaming from his Eysen-INU. He could see a cup of tea on the kitchen table, still half full, a plate of nori rolls beside it. “They left in a hurry, obviously to get to the hospital. They didn’t take the time to sterilize the place,” Taz said out loud, though he was mostly talking to himself. “We may find something helpful here.”
Chapter 11
Huang knew the connection was scrambled nine different ways and routed across the globe like a crazed ping-pong ball. The call was safe. Still, he double-checked the encryption codes before telling Rip the bad news. Only hours had passed since they last spoke, but to Rip it felt as if it had been years.
“I don’t want to tell you this,” Huang said reluctantly.
“Gale?” Rip asked, trying not to panic.
“Cira. She’s alive, okay, but . . . ”
“What?”
“There was an accident on the playground. Her eyes were cut with scissors.”
Rip’s whole body tightened, his mouth went dry, thinking of his sweet angel suffering, bleeding, her eyes. Her eyes ! “No, oh please no!”
“She had an operation. May need more, but they think she will see again.”
Rip’s fears and desperate worry swelled into confusion and anger. “Does Booker know?” Rip demanded, then answered his own question before continuing his rant. “Of course he knows. If you know, he knows. What’s his problem? I know what he’s doing! He knew I’d never come here without them.” Rip pounded his hand on the table and glanced out the windows at the water—nothing but water for a million miles. “Can you get Gale on the phone? Can you connect me to their room?”
“I can try, but it would not be safe for them.”
“Wait . . . Cira’s accident was the breach, wasn’t it? The hospital link . . . The NSA is heading to Fiji! Everyone is heading to Fiji! Are they out? How much time will they have to get out? Are they on the move . . . damn it, can they even move Cira yet?”
“You need to talk to Booker.”
“You bet I need to talk to him. I need to do more than talk to him. Damn, damn, damn!” Rip pulled up the emergency section of his Eysen-INU, but the connection didn’t go through. It was the first time he’d been unable to reach Booker since they went into hiding after their “deaths.” Rip wasn’t sure if Booker was just avoiding him or if something horrible had happened. “Huang, get me in touch with Gale or Booker, please .”
“I’ll try.”
Rip could only wait until Huang worked his magic, but as the minutes since their call ended began adding up, he realized he was not completely powerless. Although trapped on the remote and beautiful island of El Perdido—or “El Prison,” as Gale had always called it—Rip possessed the most powerful object known to man.
“To hold all the stars in your hands,” Rip whispered to himself as he held the Eysen-Sphere in the sun, then gently set it down above the Odeon Chip on a teakwood table. A moment later it levitated and images projected out.
Each session was always like his first: the indescribable wonders, the lights, the magical floating Sphere shining out visions of the universe, Earth, humanity’s past . . . and the blurry future. He stood yet again in awe, as if dancing in a dream, surrounded by clouds and stars in a gentle rain of colors.
They had learned so much, but the most important questions concerning the eleven-million-year-old treasure still remained unanswered. Rip had dubbed the people who created the Eysen the Cosegans, named for his once controversial Cosega theory. Cosega, an old Indian word meaning “before the
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