CHAPTER 29... is live
The story continues
All previous chapters - CHAPTER 1 - CHAPTER 2 - CHAPTER 3 - CHAPTER 4 - CHAPTER 5 - CHAPTER 6 - Chapter 7 - CHAPTER 8 - CHAPTER 9 - CHAPTER 10 - CHAPTER 11 - CHAPTER 12 - CHAPTER 13 - CHAPTER 14 - CHAPTER 15 - CHAPTER 16 - CHAPTER 17 - CHAPTER 18 - CHAPTER 19 - CHAPTER 20 - CHAPTER 21 - CHAPTER 22 - CHAPTER 23 - CHAPTER 24 - CHAPTER 25 - CHAPTER 26 - CHAPTER 27 - CHAPTER 28
Previously on “The bomb in the shed…”; As Ramirez and Jacob listen on, Arthur confronts Fitzpatrick, struggling to get control of his body back fromElizabeth. A vision of their murdered unborn child pushes Arthur over the edge into violence.
And here we go with CHAPTER 29…
Chapter 29
Elizabeth was no longer in Arthur’s head. She was standing beside him, in the shed, as she had been most days for the last twenty years. Someone only he could see. But this time Arthur felt no thrill from her being there with him. Instead there was a hollowness inside him, now she was no longer there in his mind, or at one with his body.
“What did you make me do?” He was staring at Fitzpatrick’s prone and bloody form.
Seeing the man lying there Arthur felt nausea and shame. He shouldn’t do; but he did. It was Elizabeth’s fury and hatred that had driven him, she’d always pushed him to do what he dare not to do himself. Go beyond the boundaries of his own nature in a way he’d hated and valued in equal measure. But that had been through conversation; applying logic and emotion. Not this act of brute force.
This violation.
“You did what you had to,” replied Elizabeth, also staring at Fitzpatrick, but with grim satisfaction. “What you wanted to do, Bear, deep down. You saved us.”
Was she right? In the end he had swung the hammer. Or part of him had. The part that hated Fitzpatrick and mourned the loss of Elizabeth and their child. She’d shown him the vision of her dying in the lab for that reason of course. But it was his anger and hatred that had triggered the act. And now they were safe from Fitzpatrick. Because of what Arthur had done, what she’d made him do. She’d robbed him of his agency and in the moment he’d hated her for it. Yet they were all safe now. And it was thanks to Elizabeth.
He lent down and felt for Fitzpatrick’s pulse. Weak, but still there. He was alive, his breathing shallow. Arthur grabbed some zip ties from the shelf and used them to bind his arms and legs, just in case.
Elizabeth watched. “What happens now?”
The binding was tight. Fitzpatrick wouldn’t be moving. Arthur picked up the radio. “I’ll call in the all clear.”
“We can’t do that,” said Elizabeth. “They’ll take her away.” She went over to the raised platform and placed both hands on Bella. “Fitzpatrick was right about one thing. We can’t let anybody else have her. Not now.”
She was right. There was no one they could trust with Bella. If he gave Ramirez the all clear Bella would be in her hands a few minutes later, controlled by the US military. And with everything Arthur knew about pure fusion they wouldn’t just let him walk away. What about the impact of pure fusion weapons on the world? Fitzpatrick fears for the future could be all too real. It was something Arthur had refused to confront in the past, because of Elizabeth. Because of their Bella. He couldn’t ignore it now.
He put the radio aside and joined Elizabeth, reached down into the flight case, probing carefully into its depths with his fingers until he found the small chip he’d dropped. The kill switch. He lifted it out and studied it. “How does it work exactly?” Even though it was through him, Elizabeth was the one who had made it. He had no memory of it.
“It takes ten minutes to work through the system, overwriting the code and destroying the circuitry,” she explained. “After that Bella will be gone.”
“You definitely want this?” Twenty years. All that time. All that love. What Elizabeth had done to him, taking control of him, was unforgivable. But losing Bella? That was something they still shared, a pain they would both feel terribly deeply, even if it was for the best.
She nodded, “I do.”
It was easier to fit the kill switch now he didn’t have Fitzpatrick looming over him. Arthur found the motherboard, paused, took a deep breath, then snapped the chip into place. A countdown started on the small screen.
“It gives us some time to say goodbye to her.” Elizabeth sat on the floor.
Arthur joined her, he probably couldn’t have stayed on his feet any longer if he tried. He was completely exhausted, physically, mentally, emotionally.
“We created something amazing, didn’t we?” she had tears in her eyes.
Arthur nodded. She was right, they had. Something terrible and dangerous and amazing. It was hard not to be proud of what they had done, even after everything that had happened.
“What are you, Elizabeth?” She still looked as real to Arthur as she had done in New Mexico, on the day he first day he saw her back in the shed, and every day since. “How are you here? How are you able to control me like that? I know you’re not just a figment of my imagination; I couldn’t have made Bella on my own. I don’t believe in ghosts. What are you?”
There were so many thing he wanted to know about her now. Questions he’d avoided to maintain the delicate spell of her improbable presence. Fear of her and what she could do to him meant he couldn’t ignore it any longer.
Elizabeth shrugged. “I don’t know. All I know is that I’m here, now. I can’t explain why or how, but I am. I feel like me, like I’m alive. Even though I know I’m not.”
“Quantum entanglement?” suggested Arthur. No-one fully understood the quantum realm and how sub atomic particles were able to affect each other even over vast distances. He and Elizabeth had never really known what was happening at the quantum level of pure fusion. Perhaps particles within their brains could somehow have become connected during the explosion.
Elizabeth smiled. “How about neural resonance?” she countered. “Electromagnetic fields and radiation creating a resonance effect in our brains, synchronising our neural patterns and creating a bridge.”
It was Arthur’s turn to smile. “We’re beginning to sound like parapsychologists,”
Elizabeth laughed. “More people believe in the paranormal than don’t.”
“Because it’s easy. Finding the truth is hard.”
The engineer in Arthur wanted to get to the heart of what had happened and how she was here. The scientific explanation. Perhaps he never would.
“You know,” he added, “Bella would have been about twenty years by now. Maybe today would have been her birthday.”
“Don’t, Bear.” Elizabeth never talked about the real Bella. Refused to.
But if they didn’t today they never would.
“I tried to push her out of my mind, Elizabeth. I really did. Because it’s so painful. But sometimes I think about her, I can’t help it. You must do too. Perhaps she’d be at University. Do you think she’d be a scientist?”
“Maybe.”
“She lied to you, Arthur.” It was Fitzpatrick intruding on their grief, his voice groggy, body stirring. He wouldn’t be able to see or hear Elizabeth of course. But he could hear Arthur’s side of the conversation.
“Ignore him,” said Elizabeth, her voice cold and dismissive.
“She’s lying,” Fitzpatrick called out again, a little louder, followed by a hacking cough.
Arthur struggled to his feet and went over to him. His face was a bloody mess and he was struggling to breathe.
“Shut him up, Bear.”
Arthur reached for some duct tape. “You don’t get to say anything, Fitzpatrick.” He pulled out a long stretch of tape and cut it off with his teeth. “Elizabeth will never forgive you. And neither will I. You didn’t kill one person when you shot her. You killed two.”
He leaned forward with the tape. Fitzpatrick, fear in his eyes, tried desperately to move his head away. Covering his mouth might be fatal, but Arthur couldn’t listen to that voice any more.
“You think you lost a baby,” said Fitzpatrick, desperate eyes fixed on the tape. “It’s not true. Elizabeth wasn’t pregnant.”
Arthur paused with the tape hovering over Fitzpatrick’s mouth. “How would you know?”
“She had a full medical three weeks before she died.” Fitzpatrick spat blood from his mouth and wheezed. “I saw the results myself. If she was pregnant it would have been flagged. It’s protocol.”
“You’re lying.” Arthur said fiercely. But did he truly believe it? Was Elizabeth back, playing in his mind again? How could he tell?
“It’s not true,” Elizabeth’s voice was inside his head now, not coming from across the room. Pushing any other thought from his mind. “He’s just jealous of us, Bear. Of you.”
Arthur pressed the tape into Fitzpatrick’s mouth. Pushed it down tight as the man struggled. Then turned back to Elizabeth. Could she be lying? After what she’d done to Arthur, taken control of his body and voice and shut him out. Forced him to do what he didn’t want to do. If she could do that what more was she capable of?
“You don’t believe him, do you?” Again her voice filled his head.
What if Fitzpatrick was telling the truth? Arthur’s time with Elizabeth would have been based on a lie. She’d told him about the baby the first time he’d tried to leave, when she’d found him in the airport bar. It was why he’d stayed with her as long as he did. It had never occurred to him that she might be lying to manipulate him. Maybe she’d been manipulating him for the last twenty years. How long had he been her puppet?
“Why did you build the bomb, Elizabeth?” he was back with her, standing over her.
She flinched when he said bomb and not Bella. She looked up at him from where she sat. “The same reason as you, Bear.”
“No,” he replied. “I did it for you. Because you wanted to. So we could be together. Why did you do it?”
Elizabeth slouched right down until she was lying on the floor and closed her eyes.
“Well?” Arthur tried again.
She waved him away with her hand.
“Is it true?” He couldn’t let it go. The doubt was there.
“He’s lying, Bear, don’t believe him.” She still had her eyes closed, like she was trying to block out the world.
They’d never talked about why she wanted to build Bella. Another taboo subject. And Arthur had pushed it to the back of his mind for all these years. Because nothing could get in the way of spending time with Elizabeth.
He went over to Bella and checked the display continued its relentless countdown. 7:48. 7:47. 7:46…
Arthur reached in and felt for the familiar shape of the kill switch chip. There was no way to dislodge it now it was snapped in place. It wouldn’t make a difference anyway, the process was triggered.
But that wasn’t his goal.
“What are you doing?” Elizabeth opened one eye looked over. “Come back. We only have a few minutes left.”
Part of him still wanted that. To go over there, to lie down and be with Elizabeth for Bella’s last moments. But another part, the one that feared her now, couldn’t let go of the nagging doubts about her. He needed to remember what she’d made him forget. He rested his finger against the kill switch and closed his eyes. Could he recall the hidden memories how it worked? Elizabeth had made it, but it was through him. Surely some part of him knew.
“Leave it, Bear.”
Elizabeth’s pleading filled his head. But he ignored it. Tried to reach back with his mind, to re-see what he’d forgotten. Elizabeth was there beside him now. He could sense her presence even with his eyes closed. She was reaching out to him, seeking to fill his mind as she had done before. There was the same background hum of anger and hatred, but also something new. Fear.
He wasn’t going to let her take control of him again though. Ever. She tried to move his hand away from the switch, he wouldn’t let her. She filled his head with images of her murdered body lying prone on the chair in the lab. He ignored them, however hard that was. Her strength of will assailed him again and again, wave after wave, trying to pull his thoughts away from Bella and the kill switch.
But still he resisted.
And then something snapped.
Her power over him dissolved and a rush of memories returned, everything he’d done under her control that she’d hidden from him. Night after night, waking, going to the shed, working, building Bella. He and Elizabeth together. Except it wasn’t together, she was controlling him like a dumb puppet.
Arthur opened his eyes.
Elizabeth was nowhere to be seen.
She’d lied. It wasn’t a kill switch he’d fitted to Bella. It was a trigger.
Counting down to detonation.
“Why, Elizabeth?”
“Because it’s Bella,” her voice was still in his head even though she herself had disappeared. But weaker now. “Our Bella. She should get her chance to shine brightly. Show everyone what we did together. You must see that. That’s why we built her, to show the world what we created.”
Arthur checked the countdown again. 4:45, 4:44…
What could he do? He had to stop Elizabeth. All that anger and hatred he’d felt inside of her, it was what had been driving her all along. She was unleashing death and destruction on the world and she’d done it through him.
Still her voice in his head. “It was always going to end like this, you must have known it, deep down…”
He picked up Fitzpatrick’s radio from the floor.
“…you’re not strong enough to get what you really want. I knew that as soon as I saw the letter you left in the drawer in the shed. I knew you were going to abandon me in New Mexico. It was only a matter of time before you did it again.”
Arthur pressed the button. “Ramirez.”
“Arthur. Go on.” she replied.
“I want to speak to my wife.”
---
What the fuck? Jacob had been listening with Ramirez, waiting for any sign of what was going on in the shed. She was resolute. Wait the hour Fitzpatrick asked for before doing anything. Until they heard something, do nothing. Then the message came over Fitzpatrick’s radio. I want to speak to my wife.
Arthur was calling in the strike. Had it really come to this?
“Just a moment.” Ramirez reached for another radio. Presumably the one to call through the strike.
“I only have four minutes.” Arthur’s voice again. Then the radio clicked off.
“Wait.” Jacob shouted it out before he knew what he was saying.
“Control?” Ramirez was speaking into the radio. But she was looking at Jacob.
“Can you give Arthur more time?” he asked. At least give him a chance to get out of there.”
Ramirez paused. Giving him an are you mad look. But at least she paused.
“He said four minutes,” continued Jacob. “Why? You said the missile would strike in under two. Perhaps he’s asking for more time. An extra minute might make all the difference.”
“That’s crazy.” Ramirez was covering the microphone as she replied to Jacob. Then she uncovered it and said, “Standby.”
“At least get Camilla in here. He asked to talk to her. He has a right to talk to her before the end. Give him that.”
Ramirez paused again, clearly irritated. But that was just the code. But it wasn’t just the code. That code was chosen because it was what someone in Arthur’s position would ask for. Why wouldn’t he want to speak to his wife before he died. How could she deny him that?
Ramirez nodded to one of her team. “Go get Mrs Price, bring her here.” Then she turned her attention back to the radio. She waited another fifteen seconds, counting them on her watch. Then said, “Execute.”
Jacob had done all he could. Hopefully it would be enough.
---
“What are you doing, Bear?” Elizabeth’s voice was there in Arthur’s head. Coming back stronger now, a sense of urgency.
“Just a moment.” Ramirez’s voice, over the radio.
Arthur checked the countdown again. “I only have four minutes.” He had to stick to the code, communicate the urgency. But he wanted to give Ramirez a little time. He wanted a chance to speak to Camilla before the end, if he could. It should only be two or three minutes before it was all over.
He put the radio down, “It’s the signal to launch the missile.” He spoke to Elizabeth in his mind, not out loud. That was where she was now, in his head. An infestation.
“Call them back.” He could feel Elizabeth panicking. “Call them back and get them to stop it.”
After everything they’d been through it was he who was now calling in the missile to end Bella, to end his own life. Just as Fitzpatrick had wanted. And it was Elizabeth who was trying desperately to stop him. He could feel her testing his mind again. He wasn’t going to let her take control. There was too much at stake.
“No, Elizabeth. Fitzpatrick was right, it’s for the best if Bella is gone, if I’m gone too.”
She was trying to make him call Ramirez back, give the all clear. Stop the missile. Let Bella complete the countdown to detonation.
He pushed her away.
She tried again.
And again he pushed her away.
“God… You are so stubborn, Bear.” Her frustration filled his consciousness.
She tried again.
And again.
Each time she was a little stronger, while he was getting weaker.
His hand reached for the radio. He tried to stop it but couldn’t. She was taking over his body again. The fear of it, that feeling of powerlessness, was breaking his mind, making it harder for him to resist. He used his feet to shuffle backwards away from the radio. Elizabeth stopped him, shuffled him back again, his fingers touching her prize. Arthur stopped struggling. With no resistance he fell forwards and crashed onto the floor. The radio skidding away from him. He was too weak to get up now. But Elizabeth had him crawling forward, slowly, hands and bare knees on the cold hard floor.
Despite his resistance, inch by inch he was getting closer, the radio within reach.
And then it was in his hands.
There was nothing Arthur could do. Elizabeth would make him call in the all clear. Bella would detonate. All those people would die. All because of him. He wasn’t strong enough.
At least his family would be safe. They would be far away by now.
“Arthur, are you there?” It was Camilla on the radio. She sounded strained, but also strong.
Arthur wanted to reply, with all of his heart he wanted to speak to his wife. But he couldn’t. He had to focus on Elizabeth, keep his mouth shut so she couldn’t speak through him. He could feel tears running down his cheeks but had no idea how long they’d been there.
“We’re at the command centre at the end of the road, with Jacob. All of us. We’re thinking of you. We love you and we want you here with us. If there’s any way you can get yourself safe do it. Do it for us.”
At the end of the road? Ramirez had lied to him. His family was still here.
The countdown continued, but it wasn’t going quickly enough. Any moment Elizabeth could call in the all clear. He could feel her trying to unclench his jaw, force him to open his mouth to speak. The words he couldn’t let himself speak were forming in his throat, all clear. His head was spinning, his mind going dark.
“Elizabeth, I know you care for Arthur. If you’re there and there’s any way you can help him… please…” Camilla’s broke down, then the radio went silent.
Elizabeth’s hold on Arthur relented, just a little. The fog of his mind cleared, but all he could think of in that moment was Camilla. She didn’t deserve to die like this. She was the most beautiful, amazing and creative person Arthur knew. He’d never get to read another of her books or see her film.
Maybe that was it.
The film. It was going to be seen by millions of people.
He didn’t need to be stronger than Elizabeth. He knew that now. That was never how he’d won against her in the past. She was always stronger than him. He’d go off and explore his own way forward, then come back and show her the wisdom of it. That was how you won against Elizabeth. He needed to trust his own instincts. About who she was, what she wanted and how he could help her.
Help them all.
There was no point in fighting any more.
Arthur dropped his resistance and let Elizabeth in. But not to give her control, it was to show her his vision, so she could see what he had planned. Another way. A way to right the wrongs of the past. Everyone would see what they’d done together and no one would have to die. She understood as soon as she saw it. Like she always did when Arthur came to her with a different way.
And then she let it all go.
All of the anger and hate bound up inside of her. It dissolved to nothing. To be replaced by an explosion of life, filling his being. The love and joy they’d shared totally consumed him.
“I never lied to you about Bella.” Her voice had changed. It was brittle. “You had another daughter, for a while. I need you to believe me.”
“I believe you.”
“Go, Bear.” Her voice was fading now. “You need to go, now.”
And then she was no more, melting into the fabric of the world around him. Not just gone, she’d ceased to be. He could feel it. And she’d taken the memories with her… memories of the pure fusion bomb they’d built together. That knowledge was dying with her, erased from his mind. He wouldn’t be able to recreate pure fusion again for anyone, even if he wanted to. But there was something else. New memories. Pieces of the puzzle floating in his mind. Not the pure fusion, but a technology he hadn’t even considered. Her parting gift to him.
Arthur was filled with a sudden burst of energy. He gave Bella and Fitzpatrick one last look, lifted the door and staggered from the shed, into the bright light of the day, spots of rain falling in his face. Was it too late? How long did he have? Would he die here in the driveway of the house? He wouldn’t see the missile before it struck. It would be travelling too fast. He wouldn’t even hear the explosion. The force of the shockwave would tear him apart even before the sound got to his ears. The thought of it left him frozen to the spot.
But Elizabeth’s words were still with him, Go Bear. You need to go now. Those words urged him forward, even though she was gone. One step in front of the other. He was walking, bare bony feet on hard stony ground. Past Fitzpatrick’s truck down the drive unto the road. Still no explosion. But it could come at any moment. And then he was running. Slowly at first, like he was under water, or wading through thick soup. Then faster and faster. He could see his family ahead of him at the end of the road, surrounded by soldiers, all urging him on. Cheering. Or was it his imagination? Did it matter? As long as he kept running towards them.
He was almost out of time, surely.
He had to run faster.
Keep going.
Arthur didn’t hear the missile or see the flash of the explosion. A huge blast hit him square in the back and lifted him off his feet, sending him flying up into the air.
The world went black before he hit the ground.
That’s it for Chapter 29, I hope you enjoyed it and are looking forward to more. Chapter 30 (the last chapter!) will be out the same time next week, Friday at 4:00pm UK time.
I’d love to hear your thoughts…
Anything you like about the story, characters, plot and writing. Any questions…
Want to share the love?…
If you know anyone else who might like the book, share via this link…
Or send them this link to Chapter 1 - https://justbeyondordinary.substack.com/p/chapter-1-is-live
Thanks!