The man was tall and thin, his form not quite solid. He looked at both of them and settled into the chair that had been her father’s. “My name is Jonathan Raisor.”
Valika was surprised to see his mouth move as he spoke. She turned to Souris. “What is this?”
The man looked about. “Not bad, but couldn’t you have come up with something a little fancier? Your comrades viewing the women by the pool are enjoying themselves. I did not think it wise to interfere in that presentation. Still, I can’t complain. This is the first chance I’ve had to sit down in quite a while.” He laughed, a manic edge to it. “As a matter of fact, this is the first time I’ve had a body in quite a while.”
“Who are you?” Valika asked, seeing that Souris was at a loss for words.
“I told you my name.”
“That means nothing to me,” Valika said.
“I am-was-part of an American experiment like this.” Raisor waved an arm about. “A bit different though.” He looked at Souris. “I think you know what I am speaking about. What you’re doing here is very interesting. You’re opening a window between the virtual and the real worlds. Straddling it, so to speak.”
“You’re from Bright Gate,” Souris whispered.
“Very good. You get the prize.”
“They have progressed far in the last two years since I left HAARP. I knew Jenkins, who ran Bright Gate while I was running HAARP. He knew so much.”
“He knew much but he was just a pawn,” Raisor said. “He is no longer with us.”
“What happened to him?” Souris asked.
“I killed him.”
Souris did not seem surprised. “Why?”
“He betrayed me.”
“What should we do?” Valika’s voice echoed inside Souris ’s mind on the private link.
The man smiled. “I can hear you. I am far more in the virtual plane than you. And you are far more in the real than I am. I saw what you did to that man in the courtyard. And I know who Cesar is. And I’ve heard of the Ring.”
“How?” Valika demanded.
“I worked for the CIA.”
“Who do you work for now?” Valika asked, noting the tense. She felt naked, with no weapons, no body even to fight with. This was completely unexpected.
“Me. As I said, I was betrayed. I believe we have common enemies now.” Raisor got up and went over to the bureau. He picked up the wedding picture of Valika’s parents. “Interesting. You’ve done a good job. Re-creating-” He paused and closed his eyes.
Valika felt pain in her head and she involuntarily gasped. The man’s right hand was at her head, unnaturally extended. The fingers were in her skull. She jerked back.
The man opened his eyes and was looking at Valika. “Your parents. This was their apartment. They are both dead now.”
“How do you know that?” Valika demanded.
“As I said, I have more power here than you do. I can reach”-he put a hand out toward her once more and she took another step back-“places you know nothing of.”
“How did you do that?” Souris asked, indicating the picture in his hand and then Valika. “We’re not on a level to interact with the projection or each other on that level. I’ve been working on getting to that point, but it’s eluded me.”
“You may not be at that level, but I am.”
“Tell me how?” Souris was excited. “How are you being projected? What did Jenkins change in the program?”
“ ‘Projected’?” Raisor mused. “Interesting choice of words.” He tapped his chest. “This is me.”
The room faded for a second. “It’s too soon for the power to be this low,” Souris said.
“I’m drawing quite a bit,” Raisor said. “I assume you don’t mind. What is HAARP?”
“We have to return,” Valika told Souris. She considered what he had just said and realized the only control they had over this man was turning off the Aura transmitter. He may have talents on the virtual plane, but he needed their power to exercise them, it appeared.
Raisor put his hand up, indicating they should wait a moment. “What is HAARP?” he repeated. His arm extended, as if it was made of rubber, toward Souris, reaching for her head.
“A projector like this,” Souris said quickly, stepping back. “Developed by the Americans. I’m surprised you never heard of it. Or saw it, if you were with Bright Gate and operated on the virtual plane.”
Raisor was nodding as if something finally made sense to him. “Now I know what she saw that she wasn’t supposed to.”
“Who are you talking about?” Valika demanded.
Raisor ignored her. “I think we can help each other.” He looked at Valika. “Talk to Cesar. Tell him I can take Aura to another level that you have not considered.”
“In exchange for what?” Valika demanded.
“I will tell you next time we meet. But I assure you that we can be very useful to each other. You’ve seen some of my powers. I have others you haven’t even thought of.” He looked at Souris. “Or perhaps you have thought of but haven’t been able to accomplish yet. I have some things to check on. I will be back here in thirty minutes.”
The room snapped out of existence. Valika felt her body seem to fade, then come back, stronger than before. She felt the seat, could hear the sound of others stirring, smell the faint odor of the leather. She blinked, eyes adjusting to the dim lighting in the room. She ripped the leads off of her skull, not caring about the hair that got torn out with them.
She swung her legs over the side and stood, feeling dizzy for a second. She could hear the members of the Ring exulting over the experience, congratulating Cesar. She walked to the rear of the room where Souris was peeling one of the leads off her skull.
She kept her voice low so the others wouldn’t hear. “Was that man part of your program?”
Souris shook her head. “No.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“Why would I invent something like that?”
“I don’t know, but you need to understand what we’re doing here is very serious.”
“I’ve spent the last twenty years of my life on this,” Souris said. “I know it’s serious. Far more than you could imagine.”
“The man said he was drawing power from Aura. How can that be if he didn’t come from here?”
“I’ll have to check my data,” Souris said.
Valika glanced over her shoulder. The men were still marveling about the women and what they had seen.
“He said he was American,” Valika said. “From this Bright Gate. You never told us of such a thing.”
“It was experimental,” Souris said.
“It doesn’t look experimental anymore,” Valika noted. “If he’s still working for the Americans, it means they’ve penetrated us.”
“He said he wasn’t,” Souris said.
“ ‘Said’?” Valika shook her head. “And because he said this, we should believe him? And even if he has been cut off by the Americans, if they could put him on the virtual plane, couldn’t they put others there too? This is a threat!”
“It is also an opportunity,” Souris said.
Valika was going to ask her what she meant when she was distracted.
“Gentlemen!” Cesar’s voice cut through the excitement. “Gentlemen!” When he had everyone’s attention, he continued. “What you saw today was only level two. There is much more that Aura can do.
“Please enjoy my hospitality. Although I cannot match what you just saw exactly, I assure you that you will find the young women I have waiting above much more real.”
Valika gave a hand signal to Cesar that she needed to speak to him. After the others left, the leader of the Ring came over to the Russian.
“What is it?”
“We were contacted on the virtual plane,” Valika said.
Cesar frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Someone met us on the virtual plane.” “Who?”
“Someone named Raisor,” Valika said. “He said he could help us. I believe he’s an American.”