The 7th Lie Read online

  “I’m good,” I yelled back.

  He nodded, then sat on his snowmobile, pulled his goggles over his eyes, and cranked the engine. The roar mingled with the howling wind. I cast one last glance at the facility.

  The stark metal building loomed against a churning white sky. A single red light flashed from the antennae reaching up into the storm, as if it were a beacon screaming for help. I wasn’t sure it had stopped storming since I’d arrived half-a-year ago. I’d had no idea what I was getting into.

  My nerves on that first day had been unbearable. After joining Vortech and making the cut to elite status, they’d sent me here to the top of the world, to a tiny, unknown island north of the Russian mainland. A place filled with mysterious sphere-shaped boulders that pocked the unforgiving landscape.

  That’s when I’d learned about the dome, and my Kansas way of thinking—of Earth and everything in it—had been shattered forever.

  After cranking my snowmobile’s engine, I pushed the throttle. Snow spewed behind me as I sped forward and followed Logan. I allowed myself to revel in the rush of wind, the crispness of the air, and the taste of ice on my tongue, something unfamiliar after being trapped inside the facility, with only a few trips to the outside world on my survival expeditions.

  We sped past the wreck of the old immigrant’s ship. Weathered wooden planks comprised its hull. In some places, the boards stuck up like the bones of a whale’s skeleton. Whatever storm had pushed it to the top of the world must’ve been massive in scope.

  The ship conjured images of the pages of a book I’d read as a child. The Lost Shipwreck of Champ Island. The book opened as if I were reading it again. Black-and-white photos and their captions popping out at me. How the ship got here is still a mystery. The immigrants’ disappearance is a mystery, too. After fifty years of study, scientists are beginning to fit the puzzle pieces together. No bodies were recovered, and in extreme temperatures such as those found on Champ Island, their remains would’ve been easily preserved. Some scientists believe they may have found a cave to take shelter in, yet no evidence of such an event has been recorded.

  Beyond the ship lay an expanse of snowy wasteland. I dodged sphere-shaped boulders, some as small as ping-pong balls, others larger than my snowmobile. A blanket of white covered their tops, as if to hide their secrets. Lines of text from the Atlas of Champ Island jumped out in my mind.

  Perfect spheres don’t exist in nature. Scientists have discovered the boulders were formed by water. However, because of the extreme temperatures, there are no recorded civilizations living on Champ Island, and no conclusive evidence that the spheres were formed by human hands.

  Ice crystals crunched under our snowmobile’s skis, bringing me from my thoughts. I shook my head. Sometimes this photographic memory thing was a pain. I couldn’t stay focused on anything long enough before a book page hit me out of nowhere, and my concentration got jerked from one idea to another.

  A howling wind echoed through the expanse. This far away from civilization, I imagined what it would feel like to be a shipwreck victim out here alone, with the screaming wind and the numbing cold. Where would I have gone from here?

  The void of white faded with the setting sun, leaving the world drenched in gray. As we approached the substation, only the blinking red lights gave any indication we were near the bunker. The roaring engines grew quieter until we shut them off, leaving me with ringing ears in the sudden silence.

  Logan removed his goggles. “You good?”

  “Fine,” I called back.

  We got off our snowmobiles and headed for the entrance. I flexed my stiff fingers. Despite my gloves, the cold managed to seep through, straight to my bones, until numbness settled inside.

  The black metal hatch loomed, a block letter ‘V’ etched into the plate. We trudged through the snow until we reached the keypad. Logan removed his gloves just long enough to press his thumb to the fingerprint pad. A red laser scanned his finger, then the pad turned green, and the hatchway opened.

  Snow particles blustered around us. I stepped onto the metal grating and inside the bunker, then I walked with Logan down a metal staircase, our footsteps echoing with hollow clangs. The door sealed shut above us. Panic of being caged in weighed heavy in my chest, but I gripped the railing.

  Get it under control, Harper.

  We descended into an abyss of computer screens and mirrored walls. The room held the sterile scent of a hospital. The sharp odor of rubbing alcohol conjured visions of endless injections during Vortech’s tests. My stomach churned at the unbidden memories, so I focused elsewhere. Scientists wearing lab coats sat at computer stations. They stood as we entered, and Agent Steele paced toward me.

  He walked with an exaggerated swagger. His plastered-on smile and muscled torso reminded me of a model on a bodybuilder equipment infomercial. He looked the part, too, with his gelled sandy brown hair. A fake tan stained his face, and his teeth had been bleached whiter than the snow outside.

  “Agent Sabine Harper,” he said in a voice too quiet to match his beefed-up frame. He extended his hand. I took it, though I didn’t bother with removing my gloves. “I can’t believe today is finally here. I hope the trip over to the bunker wasn’t too bad. I know what that weather’s like out there.”

  “It wasn’t too bad today.” I glanced at Logan. He stood in a military posture with hands behind his back. “Logan and I have been through worse.”

  “I’m sure you have. Champ Island is a hostile place. Easy to lose your way out there. Well, let’s not waste any time. It’s been ten years since the last flare, ten years since we’ve sent anyone through the portal. As you can guess, we’re more than a little excited you passed the tests. We’ve got high hopes for you, Agent Harper.”

  The room quieted as eyes focused on me. I swallowed the nervous lump in my throat. “Yeah,” I said with a shrug. “I hope I don’t disappoint you.”

  “You’d better not,” he said with a laugh. “Anyone who’s been through as much of a vetting process as you had better come back alive.” He spoke with an easygoing tone, though I detected a hint of seriousness lingering in the dark glint of his eyes. “If you’ll follow me, we’ve got station two ready to go.”

  I followed him past rows of computers and mirrors. When we rounded a bend, the gateway portal came into view. Seven lights blinked around its outer shell. A network of thick cables ran to each of the lights.

  I felt like I’d entered a sci-fi movie. This was so far from the familiar, I almost wondered if I were dreaming.

  Beside the gateway, a chair was arranged by a medical desk, where rows of needles lined a tray. My stomach soured.

  “I’m hoping these are my last shots.”

  Logan chuckled behind me. “Once you’re through, I doubt you’ll have to worry about it.”

  A middle-aged woman wearing white scrubs neared us. “Remove your coat, please,” she said in a robotic tone. “Then have a seat.”

  I did as she said. The plastic squeaked as I got settled on the chair. Scientists and medical techs hovered around me, taking my temperature, pulse, blood pressure, looking at my pupils with a pen light. I’d gotten used to it by now.

  “We’re giving you a final series of inoculations,” Agent Steele explained. “While we don’t know the diseases the locals carry, we can take educated guesses. We’re also going to draw your blood to compare your cellular structure to its behavior after passing through the gate.”

  “I understand,” I said as the nurse tied a rubber cord around my arm. The needle pricked as it slid under my skin. A thin line of red filled the tube.

  Agent Steele rolled a chair to me and sat as the nurse worked. Logan remained standing at my side, like a soldier on watch. “You don’t have to hover,” I whispered to him.

  “Says who?” he answered with a wink.

  “We need to discuss a few things.” Steele clasped his hands on his lap, his skin stained the same fake tan color as his face, as if he were trying to recr
eate sunlight in a place where there was none. “You’ve read all the atlases and history. You know the science behind the gateway discovery. I’m assuming you know what you’re up against?”

  “Partially,” I said. “I know what you’ve told me. There’s more I haven’t been told.”

  He raised an eyebrow in an accusatory gesture. “What makes you say that?”

  “You’re Vortech.” I laughed. “You rely on secrecy. Most of the world doesn’t know you exist. The people who do fear you. For good reason.”

  A cold wipe chilled my arm as the nurse cleaned my shoulder. “This is the first one,” she said. “It’ll bite a bit.”

  “Got it.”

  “Do tell, Agent Harper.” Steele waved a hand at me. “What is it you think we haven’t told you?”

  The needle pricked my arm. I did my best to ignore the sting. “The reason I’m going in. This isn’t some scientific research mission. If it were, I’d be cataloging, bagging and tagging, exploring, that sort of thing. Instead, all you care about is cerecite. You only care if I come out with it. Nothing else. You’ve made the seven pieces of cerecite my primary mission. Why?”

  “Your question is noted.” His eyes narrowed, but he smiled. “Any other questions?”

  “Yes,” I continued, though I noted his lack of an answer to my question. “The survivors of the shipwreck. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out they made it under the dome two centuries ago. They’ve been living in an alternate reality ever since.” Talking about an alternate reality out loud sounded absurd even to me, but after spending six months isolated on the island, I’d had time to give it some thought. Too much thought.

  He pinched his lips. “You may be too clever for your own good, Sabine.”

  Sabine. He’d used my first name. I must’ve been getting under his skin. It was just as well. I was done with the song-and-dance. If Vortech wanted me under the dome, they’d do it by being honest with me.

  “You’re wrong on one thing, however.” Steele crossed his arms. “This alternate reality, as you call it, is something more. Something we haven’t determined. The shipwreck survivors were the first to discover this cave and what was in it. A bridge to an extra dimension.” He nodded toward the glaring gateway, then he leaned forward. “The dimension they entered varied from our own by one major component. The rocks you see lying around this island were on theirs as well, except those stones were made up of cerecite, an extremely rare mineral that possesses incredible qualities.

  “With it, they were able to create a dome that sheltered them from Champ Island’s harsh weather.”

  The nurse injected me with the second shot. I winced, but I didn’t flinch. “You should’ve told me this sooner,” I said. “Why did you keep it a secret?”

  “Because, as you said yourself, Vortech relies on secrecy. Secrets are power.” He tapped his fingers on the tabletop in a nervous gesture, as if pondering how much to tell me. “Harper,” he said softly, though his eyes bored into mine with enough intensity to make me flinch. “How much do you know about the flare?”

  I shrugged. “As much as anyone else. It hit us ten years ago. Knocked out our electronics and GPS for months. Millions of people died because we lost access to breathing machines. Medicines spoiled. Smaller flares are still affecting us now. Cancer has tripled in our population because of the radiation.” That was a fact I knew too personally.

  I chewed on my bottom lip as I pondered his question. He must’ve been getting at something else. “That’s why I’m here, isn’t it?”

  His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t reply.

  “This was never a scientific mission. You need the cerecite for a power source.”

  “Yes,” he said with a single nod. “The seven pieces of white cerecite can power our entire planet without the need for electricity.”

  Logan cursed. “You would own the planet,” he said quietly. “You’d bankrupt every power company in the world. Is that what this is about? Money?”

  Steele’s eyes hardened. His shoulders stiffened. “No,” he snapped. “Not money. It’s about saving our world.”

  “Saving the world?” I asked. “What do you mean?”

  He glanced away and pursed his lips. “There’s a reason we haven’t told you everything until now. There are some things not meant for the public, and this is a secret you can tell no one. Understood?”

  I glanced at Logan. Did he know about this? If so, he’d done a good job hiding it. I turned back to Steele. “I understand.”

  “Good.” He clasped his hands. “A month before the first flare, a coronal mass wave was recorded at four-hundred times the normal limit. We didn’t think much of it. Most waves are barely detectable. But a month later, you know what happened. The sun erupted. It took out everything.” He shook his head. “The government is lying to us. Has been since the flare. They say they’re handling it. That another flare—statistically speaking—will never happen again in our lifetime, and if it does, they’ll be prepared.” Steele leaned forward. “But what if I told you that we recently detected another coronal mass wave. This one is three times larger than the last one. Harper, it will be strong enough to wipe every grid off the planet. Fossil fuels. Wind energy. Nuclear power. They’ll be useless after this one.”

  Fear chilled me straight to my core. I sat speechless. What could we do? What could anyone do?

  “Surely it’s not that bad,” Logan cut in. “We survived the first one. We’ll do the same for this one.”

  “No,” Steele said with certainty. “The only way to survive the next flare is to find an alternate power source. We need cerecite.”

  I imagined Mima’s body lying in a casket, eaten by cancer that could have been treated if not for the flare. The same would happen to Dad if his cancer came back.

  “It’s a terrifying situation,” Steele continued. “One that has one answer. We’re not trying to control our planet, Agent Logan. We’re trying to save it.”

  My gut twisted with unease. “So...” I said, my voice haunted. “If I don’t recover the cerecite...”

  “Then we lose our planet,” Steele answered.

  Panic shot like lightning down my spine. But beyond my fear, confusion plagued me. There was so much that didn’t make sense. “Steele, you must realize how absurd this all sounds. You’re literally telling me we’re going to lose our planet, and I’m the only one going through the dome to save it. There are too many risks.” I pointed to the gateway. “What if I die in there? Which is a very likely situation given we lost all the agents before me.”

  Steele steepled his fingers. “You’re right, Harper. And believe me when I say we understand your concern. Trust me, we’d love to send a squadron through the dome and take every last piece of cerecite in there, but we’ve only got the tech to send one person through. Anyone else who enters gets crushed in the transition.” He shook his head and sighed. “We’ve gone over every possible scenario. We ran millions of simulations. Our greatest chance for success was to send a single person into the dome—and that person couldn’t be just anyone. They needed specific qualifications.”

  “You’re referring to my EPC.”

  “Yes. Among other things.” He rubbed his neck. “Eidetic Perceptive Cognition only exists in about one-one-thousandth of the population. Among those, only one-one-hundredth can function in society. We’re lucky to have you, to be honest. If it weren’t for the rigorous recruiting process our agents enacted, we never would have found you.

  “With your enhanced abilities, you can focus on details with the laser focus of a supercomputer. You may be the only person on the planet who can find the cerecite in enough time to save us from another flare.”

  Another flare. I rubbed my forehead as a headache pounded. It was too much to take in.

  Logan leaned forward. “Agent Steele, why weren’t we told this sooner?”

  “What good would it have done?” He spread his hands. “Telling you would have changed nothing.”

  “
I don’t buy it.” Logan crossed his arms. “Surely the government has other options.”

  “Yes.” Steele mimicked Logan and crossed his arms. “They do. They’re working on alternate solutions to the problem. But we’re not with the government. When Harper returns with the cerecite, we deliver it to the government. No questions asked. It’s in our contract.”

  “How much have they agreed to pay you?” I asked.

  Logan’s jaw ticked, as if he were annoyed by my question. “As I said before, this isn’t about money.”

  I studied him. Was there a possibility that there was no second flare coming? That they were using scare tactics to get me to do their work for them?

  But what if they were telling the truth? Dad’s life was on the line, and that was a risk I couldn’t ignore. I’d already lost my mother and Mima to the last flare. I couldn’t afford to lose anyone else. The thought of losing Dad shattered me.

  “This is your final injection,” the nurse said, punching the needle into my arm, then pulling it out with a quick jerk of her hand.

  “You’ll have some bruises to show off,” Logan said, attempting a cheerful tone.

  “Yeah.” I laughed nervously, Steele’s words haunting me, though I did my best to shrug away the fear. “I’m sure everyone under the dome will care.” I glanced up at Steele, who stood and started pacing nervously.

  Flare or not, lingering fear chased me. One thing I knew—I needed all the information I could get, and with Steele available to answer my questions, I would take my opportunity.

  “What else can you tell me?” I asked. “Why haven’t you told me about the immigrants? Don’t you know anything about them?”

  “No.” He stopped pacing to stare at me. “Trust me when I say we don’t have that information. Getting a clear idea of what’s going on under the dome isn’t easy. Our communications are slim to none, which is why we’ve equipped you with your Agent Fifteen unit. The AI is programmed to respond with all the Vortech protocols. Plus, it can communicate with you better than any of us. As far as their civilization goes, we placed an informant inside. His name is Ivan Nordgren. He’s expecting you.”