Chapter Sixteen #3
“It’s CIA,” confirmed Jed. “I’ll get more into the details in a few minutes. Go on, Hell.”
Helen then described how she and Jed decided to try jumping locations by adopting the other remote viewer’s universal agreement.
“It seems his handlers are more ambitious because I kept bilocating from one place to another instead of returning to Hade...Jed back in the Portal.” She paused.
“I know it all sounds like bad science fiction, all this jumping from one location to another. I didn’t even know it could be done.
During training, my CIA monitor told me multiple universal agreements weren’t conducive to operations because most viewers become spatially confused.
In other words, the more times one bilocates during a session, the more the brain is deceived that what the viewer is going through is real. ”
“That’s why your vitals were fluctuating so wildly,” Shahrukh said. “Even after the one time when you stopped breathing, your readings were never truly stable. The only reason Dr. Kirkland never shut it down was because Jed’s remained steady after that one incident.”
Helen shrugged. “Well, my monitor wasn’t having his brain served with a side of Twilight Zone crazy.”
They chuckled at her attempt at nonchalance. She couldn’t tell, from a quick glance at Jed’s direction, whether he found that amusing too.
“When I bilocated that second time, I landed in total darkness. Normally, I’m not afraid of the dark, but this was also in a confined space and it took...
ah...a little adjustment, shall I say, before I realized that I was inside a crate, or rather, my bilocated self was.
My brain was totally deceived and Jed had to help me out of my initial panic.
It was a very uncomfortable feeling, to sum it mildly.
Even though physically you aren’t there, bilocation is so real to the brain you feel the tight confines of being in a crate.
I had to keep reminding myself I wasn’t really there, that I could do physically impossible things. ”
“Yeah, I can relate,” Flyboy said. “The newest experiments with virtual reality in flight simulation are so real some pilots got air sick when they tried top warp speed.”
“That’s exactly how it affects me in the Portal,” Jed agreed.
“What Helen was seeing and experiencing in her remote viewing, I was able to experience as if I was going through a virtual reality simulation, except that, with our form of deep immersion techniques, Hell and I have found a way to communicate while she’s doing her thing.
And yes, I felt the trapped feeling of being locked in a small space, just as she did. ”
The others were intently listening.
“But why did you both stop breathing at the same time?” T asked. “I know training should have prevented you from panicking so quickly in the dark or being locked up. That’s just so not like you, darling.”
“Maybe I have agoraphobia,” Jed said, amusement creeping into his voice.
“Do you?” T challenged. “Did that make you lose control?”
“Our brainwaves are in sync during immersive RV, remember,” Helen said, not sure why she felt the need to defend Jed.
“My believing that I was being buried alive triggered the panic attack, which then brought on a similar experience for him. Jed realized quickly what was happening and brought me out of it.”
“So you both sensed each other’s feelings too. How incredibly interesting,” T observed. She looked pleased, as if she’d finally gotten an answer to some question.
Helen could see her operation chief’s mind racing with obvious questions. What other things did Jed and she share? The others had the same expressions she’d seen on their faces a time or two—disbelief, discomfort, intrigue, paranoia.
“It’s not a constant thing. It was just this one-time experience, probably because it was totally unexpected.
” She looked around. “RV isn’t about reading minds, even though I teased you guys about it.
It isn’t as simple as that. As humans, I believe we automatically block our thoughts off from each other anyway, but during an unguarded moment, certain safeguards get knocked out temporarily. ”
“Like a psychic crash,” Armando said suddenly, leaning forward.
“Listen to this theory. In the hallway yesterday, if indeed there was a remote viewer and somehow we both became aware of his presence, and if it was that man you saw on the bed, he first crashed into you in Munich, but this time, I crashed into him.”
“Well, actually, you crashed into me,” Hell reminded him, pointing down at her leg.
“Yes, but I had to run into—okay, through him first—before crashing into you.” He frowned.
“All I know is the pain in my head was suddenly unbearable and then—” he gestured with his hand, as if he was performing a magic act, “—run, run, run, my mind said. Before I knew it, I was running to where you and Jed were standing. I knew something was there. I don’t know how, but I did. ”
“Good theory,” Jed said. “We have many questions about that incident which we can’t answer now. We have certain weapons that need to be located first. Sieve these questions through the back of your mind while we work on our more immediate concerns.
“One, why did they send their remote viewer here? Was it to attack Hell again, or for something else? Two, why was it part of his universal agreement if he was also looking for weapons? It’s the third question that is most relevant to the motivation behind all this.
That certain elements in the CIA are involved isn’t in doubt here, but if they were the same people who stole the weapons from right under the government’s nose in the first place, how come they don’t know where they are now?
Why are they racing us to get to each item? ”
Helen jotted down the questions. Jed in computational mode was formidable to behold.
She couldn’t help but admire how he could take each clue and work it into the big picture.
The conference/debriefing could have descended into a long discussion about science fiction, remote viewing and psychic attacks, but with a few questions, Jed had led it all back to the mission.
It was true, whether there was anything woo-woo going on or not, certain CIA rogue operatives were after the same specific weapons that were on the list.
“There is an endgame to this. We need to focus on how these weapons are connected. The decoder card is nothing without other weapons. The people at Deutsche International were trying to break its code for a reason.” Jed clicked his remote, enlarging each item as he mentioned them.
“The explosive device trigger was in that crate because Hell saw Croatian words on the side of it. We already know this, though, because that was the last out-shipment the CIA dropped while Gorman was in charge. Gorman knew it was there, so why not these CIA moles?”
“I wish there was a more definitive way to confirm all this,” Sullivan growled.
His large hand curled around his mug. “Much as I don’t want to spoil our confidence in this remote-viewing shit, a crate with Croatian words on the outside doesn’t mean it was in Croatia or Macedonia or wherever else they speak that language. ”
“I would have been very surprised if you didn’t question my certainty about this,” Jed said.
His light eyes had the spark of a man who was certain about his facts.
“Last night, I double checked with Eight Ball and confirmed that the numbers I saw on the side of the crate belonged to the same shipment number sent out in the drone as relief aid. Also, there’s another very important piece of proof Hell can produce herself. ”
Helen blinked. That was the first she heard of any proof. She cocked her head at Jed.
“Tell them what you heard before you bilocated again.”
Realization dawned. “I heard a woman’s voice. She was barely discernible, but I think she was calling a name. Cameron?”
T’s startled reaction caught Helen’s attention. “A woman?” T asked, exchanging glances with Jed. “As in Patty and Cam?”
“You know a Cameron? And the woman too?” Helen questioned. She bit her lower lip. “She was locked in the crate and someone was beating the heck at the side of it. It’s...Jed, I told you he was talking like an American...was that this Cam?”
Jed nodded. “Some of you were at that vault fire at the CIA HQ not long ago, helping then Task Force II O.C., Rick Harden, to rescue our Nikki. Cameron Candelaro and Patty Ostler, who worked under him, disappeared that night. Word was, their bodies were dumped into two of the crates being shipped out the same night. Sullivan, Hell has never met either Cam or Patty Ostler and doesn’t know the back story. ”
He knew who those people were, and hadn’t said a word.
Sullivan scratched the back of his ear. “Wow,” was all he said. He then gave a male shrug, as if that was good enough for now.
“But that was months ago. If she were still in the crate, she’d be dead by now. How do you explain that?”
Hell frowned. “Months ago? She was definitely alive during my RV session.” She thought for a moment. A mental snap. “The second universal agreement. It was where the weapons were dropped, not where they are now, so what I saw was at the point in time those weapons arrived at their location.”
“So not necessarily the current location,” Shahrukh said.
Jed nodded, his expression thoughtful. “But we’re close to the trigger.
Since our SEAL contact is working on retrieving that item, we’ll wait till I talk to him.
Next, we have the location of the missing Stealth.
Shahrukh, you’re going to retrieve what’s left of it.
It may not be at the same location, but a Stealth isn’t difficult to trace when we have a general location. ”
“Wait a minute—” Flyboy sat up, an indignant look on his face. “The Stealth’s mine.”