James Rollins - Altar Of Eden

“Like fractals,” Kyle said.

“Exactly,” Greer said.

Jack had to refrain from scratching his head. What were fractals?

The pathologist continued: “But those magnetic inclusions or nodes are only half the story.” He led them back to the exposed brain. He used the tip of his tweezers to draw lines from one magnetite inclusion to another. “Each node is linked by a microscopic web of crystals, from one to the other, forming an interconnected array. And wrapped throughout this webbing is a dense region of neurons.”

“As would be expected,” Dr. Carlton Metoyer said.

The others turned to the head of ACRES.

Carlton explained. “It’s been proven that magnetic stimulation of the brain results in the growth of neurons and new synaptic connections. If this magnetic array formed during embryonic development, the low-grade and constant magnetic stimulation would produce a richer region of neurons locally.”

Jack remembered the earlier discussion. “And this would make the animals smarter?”

“Individually… to some degree. But it also adds validity to Dr. Polk’s theory of some wireless interconnectivity. More neurons, more electrical stimulation locally. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say the transmission triggering the synchronization is electromagnetic. A weak EM pulse shared among the animals.”

Lorna shook her head, struggling through it all. “There’s still so much more we need to know.”

“Then I’ll let you all get back to your own research,” Greer said, “but there’s one last thing.”

“What?” Carlton asked.

The pathologist shifted to the other side of the table. Another tray rested there. A tiny object lay inside. It was clearly man-made. A plastic capsule the size of a pea. Through its clear surface tiny electronics were visible.

“I thought you’d like to see one of the microchips embedded in the animals.”

Lorna crinkled her brow. “Microchips? Are you saying they’re tagged?”

Greer turned to her. “MRI scans showed each animal had such chips implanted under the skin. We had thought they were ID chips used to mark each animal, like they do for dogs and cats. But I compared this one to the tags used here on our animals. This baby is much more sophisticated. It’s packed full of electronics.”

“Can I see it?” Jack asked.

The pathologist picked it up and passed it over. Jack studied it closer. Though he couldn’t tell much without further study, his internal radar buzzed a warning. From the complexity and degree of miniaturization, it looked military grade.

Maybe a transponder… or a GPS tracker…

As he thought that, the lights suddenly extinguished. The windowless room fell into pitch darkness. Everyone held their breath, waiting for the emergency generators to kick in.

Finally, Carlton snapped peevishly, “I thought we had the power glitch fixed.”

Jack tensed. His internal warning system went from a low buzz to a full Klaxon of alarm. He remembered his assessment a moment ago.

A tracker…

He pictured the explosion at the trawler. Someone had been attempting to cover their tracks. But not all of those tracks had been obliterated.

Some led here.

Certainty grew inside him. “It’s not a power outage,” Jack said coldly into the darkness. “We’re under attack.”

In the darkness, Lorna stumbled away from the necropsy table and hit a warm body. Arms caught her, held her. She knew it was Jack by the musky mix of sweat and iodine.

Light bloomed on the far side of the table as Zoë freed her cell phone and used the light of the screen to push back the darkness. The phone wasn’t good for much else. The storm had knocked out the area’s cell tower-not that they had good service here anyway.

They all gathered closer to the phone’s glow like moths to a flame.

Carlton stood with his hands on his hips, maintaining his usual aplomb. “Agent Menard, what makes you think this is some form of attack versus a power glitch?”

Jack answered swiftly and forcefully. “Until I know better, Dr. Metoyer, I’m assuming the worst. Whoever firebombed that trawler could be coming after the remaining animals. That chip removed from the cub looked like a tracking tag, one that could lead them here.”

“That’s a stretch, Agent Menard,” Carlton dismissed. “Besides, who would go through so much effort?”

Lorna felt the tension in Jack’s body, which had gone rock hard. He still hadn’t let her go. Her brother eyed her with a dour expression. Under Kyle’s judgmental gaze, she finally slipped out of Jack’s arms on her own.

“Maybe we should listen to the agent,” Zoë said as she retreated next to her husband. “Take precautions. What could it hurt?”

All faces turned to Jack.

“This room has no windows,” he said. “Which means it’s a blind spot to any surveillance of the facility. Just to be cautious, everyone should stay here while I check out what’s going on.”

Greer spoke up. “What about just leaving?” He pointed to the far side of the room. “There’s a service ramp that leads out from here.”

“No. They’d have the place surrounded by now. The exit would be watched.”

“Then what do we do?” Zoë asked, her fear growing as large as her eyes.

“For now, you all hole up down here. Is there some place to keep out of sight, maybe barricade?”

“The walk-in cooler,” the pathologist said. “But there’s no way to lock it from the inside.”

Kyle spoke up. “Let me look at it. After spending four years in engineering school, I should be able to finagle a way to secure it from the inside.”

Jack nodded. “Good. Then everyone else grab weapons. Scalpels, knives, scissors, syringes, whatever you can find and retreat there. I’m going to make for my truck. I have a rifle and a shotgun in a lockbox out there.”

Greer had found a pair of emergency flashlights, clicked one on, and passed the other to Jack. “In case you need it.”

The group began to disperse under the pathologist’s direction, gathering anything sharp.

Lorna followed Jack out of the circle of light and into the gloom as he headed toward the door. A small battery-powered “Exit” sign glowed weakly above the doorway ahead.

“What about my tranquilizer gun?” she said. “The one I went hunting with. I dropped it back at my office. It’s closer than going outside.”

She didn’t want Jack confronting some assault team while totally unarmed.

He nodded. “Good idea.”

“I’ll go with you.” She knew Jack would argue, so she pressed. “It takes skill to safely load the syringe cartridges with M99.”

And it did. Just a few drops could kill a man in seconds.

Still, he seemed ready to balk.

“I’ll go just as far as the office,” she promised. “It’s only one flight up. Then I’ll head straight back here.” She passed him and reached the door before he could stop her. “C’mon. Let’s go.”

She pulled open the door, but he blocked her from stepping out. She was ready for him to push back, to refuse to let her go. Instead, he slipped out ahead of her.

“Keep behind me. No talking.”

She followed his broad back into the hallway. As the door closed the hallway went pitch-black. Jack reached and fumbled for her hand. His grip was huge, rough with calluses. But his hard hold helped settle her in the darkness. He led her in the direction of the nearby stairwell.

Why doesn’t he use his flashlight?

They reached the dark stairs and began to ascend. Faint light filtered as they neared the first floor landing. Windows let in some meager glow from the stars. After the pitch darkness below, even this little bit of illumination was welcome.