Just as the Oracle said, the eagle was able to let us down just outside the canyon with the spring that led back to the well in my world. We weren’t exactly sure how you should thank a bird, so we just waved it goodbye as it took to the skies again. We decided to take advantage of our unexpected time save and rushed into the canyon to get home.
When we reached the otherside, we ran upstairs to tell the other girls what we had discovered. All three of them were watching TV in the drawing room.
“Eric!” Stephanie shouted as she ran up to hug me. The other girls stood up as well.
Anabel smiled and said, “look, they’ve brought Sir Wraith with them as well.”
“Oh, joy. How would we ever get along without him?” Emily said sarcastically accompanied with an eyeroll as Wraith kissed Anabel’s hand.
“Hey, mock all you want,” I defended, “but Wraith has been a huge help to us. He got us in to see the Oracle. We know what Celica is up to. She’s trying to get to CERN and mess with the Large Hadron Collider.”
“Oh, my god!” Stephanie reacted and said, “you gotta see this. Come here.”
She took me to the TV and showed what they were watching. It was a news report about a string of wild killings that happened around the London area in the last few days. There was a breaking report about a train conductor being killed and his uniform taken by an unknown woman. The security footage they showed was very clearly Celica disguised as the train employee. The train was stopped in Paris but she wasn’t found on board.
“I’m thinking she realized she couldn’t get on a plane without proper identification. Let’s see if we can find out that train’s schedule,” I suggested.
“Already on it,” Emily said as she looked up from behind a laptop, “it was bound for Switzerland.”
“She must have changed trains before getting caught. That means not only was the Oracle right, but we’ve still got some time to get there before her if we take a plane now. It only takes a few hours to fly to Geneva from London. The trains will take several more hours and she’ll likely be cautious in her approach since she knows authorities are looking for her.”
“That would put her arriving…” Wraith started to say, before I interrupted him…
“Right about the time she was predicted to be.”
“I don’t like this, Eric,” he added, “are you sure the people getting murdered in the prediction weren't us?”
“No, it was security personnel. Besides, the Oracle never said the prediction was set in stone. Remember, people use his visions to carve out their own futures. So, we gotta assume that events can be changed until something gives us reason to think otherwise. It’s a shame we didn’t ask him for clarity on that,” I noted, “but everything just felt so rushed.”
“Then what should we do now?” Arduwan asked.
“Stephanie, book three tickets to Geneva out of London as soon as we can possibly board them. I need to make a phone call,” I stated.
“Four tickets,” Emily added, “I’m going too. You might need my help figuring things out if it gets complicated.”
“Fine.” I wasn’t going to argue.
While Stephanie was making travel arrangements, I decided to call up CERN.
“Hello, I was wondering how much it costs to take a tour of the Large Hadron Collider? Oh, it's free? I see. Not open to the public right now. Well, what if I were to make a sizable donation to CERN in exchange for a private tour tomorrow? That’s right…how about fifty million US dollars?”
* * *
Stephanie pulled the car around front and Emily, Wraith, Arduwan, and I got in. Anabel stayed home. She was probably the most confused…and most scared for us. I had Wraith change into some clothes he left in the attack, that way he could blend in. There was no way he was getting on that plane with the plasma rifle, so it had to stay too. Fortunately, Higgins had worked his magic to get all the girls legitimate looking identification, so we’d be able to board no problem. That man was indispensable. I missed him already but had no time to grieve.
We got to the airport with just twenty or so minutes to spare. Stephanie was able to get us flights leaving rather quickly, but the airport was nearly an hour away from the estate, so we were cutting it close. She wished us luck and we made our way inside.
The man at the ticket printing counter said, “and you are Miss Ardu Wan, correct?”
“Well, Ardu is actually a boy's name. My father’s name is Ardu. The Wan indicates feminine but Higgins said my surname couldn’t be ‘the Barbarian’.”
The man had a look of confusion on his face but didn’t question. He simply printed the ticket and let her pass. Emily was far easier to get through.
“I’m scared, Eric,” Arduwan said, after we got seated on the plane.
“There’s no reason to be. Flying is perfectly safe,” I assured, “besides, you just had a giant bird carry you wrapped up in a rug over the desert. This should be cake for you.”
“I didn’t know there was going to be cake, but that still doesn’t change the fact that this narrow room is going to be up in the air and there’s nothing I can do to control it,” she pouted.
“There’s a trick to this, Arduwan,” Emily suggested, “when the plane starts to take off, just close your eyes and think about the first time you had sex.”
“Ah, that was a triumphant day,” she replied before lowering to a whisper, “but, Emily, I’d have to kill everyone on this plane to simulate all the dire wolf blood.”
* * *
A few hours later we arrived in Geneva, despite all that had been going on in the past several days, I was able to get some shut eye on the plane. I felt a little recharged, so we at least had that going for us. I could tell Emily was getting concerned though. She asked, “hey, are you doing ok?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m good. We’ve got pretty good chances with the Oracle’s help, I suppose.”
“That’s not what I meant,” she reiterated, “I’m talking about dealing with, you know,
Higgins' death.”
“It happened so suddenly. I haven’t fully taken the time to process it. I’ve just wanted to focus and ensure he was avenged.”
“I understand. But I want you to know some. He didn’t die upset with you. In fact, while you and Arduwan were in Synthetica, he told us that a great weight had been lifted, that you finally knew the truth and that you had an opportunity to see your dad again. He had no way of knowing if he was still alive, but even the 1% chance that he might be, made him happy you chose to go down that day.”
“Thank you. That does help. And thanks for coming. I know it’s super dangerous, but there is certainly a chance we could use you here.”
She patted me on the knee just before we were permitted to get off the plane and said, “let’s just get through this and when everything has calmed down again, there's something else I wanna talk to you about.”
We shuffled off the plane and made a plan of action on our way to the LHC. Luckily it was near the airport. We had no idea where Celica was, but given our time frame, she’d be here in a matter of hours.
“I’ve been thinking, Eric,” Emily suggested, “it’s very likely that Celica will go straight for the central computer at the Data Centre. Perhaps you could ask the guide we’re meeting to take us directly there?”
“That’s a great idea. The sooner we get there, the better chance we have of setting some kind of trap.”
“You just tell me what I can do to help and I’m with you buddy,” Wraith declared.
* * *
When we got to the visitor center our guide was there to meet us.
“Welcome ladies and gentleman! You must be the Noble party. You can call me, Armin.”
“Hello, Armin. I’m Eric Noble. This is Wraith, Emily, and Arduwan.” “Shall we start the tour?” he asked politely.
“Actually, we were hoping we could go straight to the Data Centre.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Noble, but that part of the facility is not open for touring during shutdown. We are running on a skeleton crew right now,” he apologized.
“It’s alright, Eric. Let’s restrategize,” Emily said.
“Hang on, I’m going to right now…excuse me, Armin. But may I remind you that I wired fifty million dollars to CERN’s scientific foundation a few hours ago. Unless you want me to rescind my donation and go to the media about the fact you’re hiding this facility's research from top tier donors, I suggest you take us.”
Armin had a look of shock and then quickly said, “right this way, sir.”
Armin took us underground to a long corridor with tall computer cabinets on both sides. There were barriers of glass between each section for security purposes. Armin was explaining how all the data is collected and processed in this corridor as we walked through it. There was no doubt about it, if she wanted full control of CERNs capabilities, including the Large Hadron Collider, this was where Celica would get it.
When he reached the end of the explanation, Armin tried to take us on to a different part of the tour, but we asked him if we could stay there a while longer. He was beginning to get suspicious of our motives so I had to think of something before he called security on us.
I pulled him aside and said, “Hey listen, Armin. This might be a little strange for you but here’s the deal. I’m a very eccentric playboy billionaire, right. And there’s a lot more where that donation earlier came from. See our two lady friends there?”
“Yes,” he said as I pointed in their direction. Emily gave a little wave.
“They get really turned on by this science stuff. So, you think there’s any chance maybe you could…head to a break room or anything for like fifteen minutes? So, we can…you know, finesse them a little bit. Nothing too wild, mind you! Just a little kissy kiss. I mean, what’s the harm? There’s camera’s here right? It’s not like we’re gonna do anything dangerous. Perhaps I could even make a name drop for you when I make my next donation?”
“I guess that might be okay. But just for maybe fifteen minutes. Long enough for me to drink a soda, okay.” he conceded.
I thanked him and then he left. That at least bought us a little time to prepare for Celica’s arrival. We had to think of some kind of plan.
