David Sakmyster
The Tesla Objective
Returning Character List
Caleb Crowe — Current leader of the Morpheus Initiative (now merged with the government black-ops Stargate Program). Reluctant psychic and former professor who had been drawn into his family’s obsessive quest for a fabled treasure beneath the legendary Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria. Caleb discovered the truth about his father’s fate and the sacrifices he had made to ensure his son would be the one to find the hidden vault of knowledge, the books secreted away and protected — including the Emerald Tablet, an ancient artifact of immense power.
Phoebe Crowe — Caleb’s sister. At a young age and while on an adventure with their mother, she followed Caleb into a tomb where she suffered an accident and was paralyzed, for years confined to a wheelchair — until later cured by her guilt-ridden brother and the medical secrets retrieved from the Pharos treasure. A strong remote-viewer in her own right, she has taken on the mantle of leadership and training; although now married to Orlando Natch, and with newborn twins, her responsibilities have shifted.
Orlando Natch — early member of the Initiative and a strong remote-viewer (in favor of electronic free-drawing over the convention pencil-and-paper route), he was instrumental in the hunt for Genghis Khan’s tomb in the Mongol Objective. Orlando is a big-time gamer and fan of all things geeky and cool, which is a reason he’s felt blessed to have Phoebe in his life.
Xavier Montross — Caleb’s half-brother, Montross has a slightly different talent than some of the others, as his ‘visions’ are more tailored to his own mortality; he often sees direct threats sometimes years before they happen — haunting him into action to prevent them from coming true. Initially he was a member of the Pharos hunt, but then went rogue to steal the Emerald Tablet (correctly envisioning that it could end not only his life, but the lives of everyone on the planet). Soon after, he reveals his identity — as Caleb’s half-brother, and works with the team to stop the larger threat. He had to sacrifice himself to do so, but was able to swap his consciousness (his soul) into the body of their defeated enemy, Mason Calderon — and now wears his shell, fooling the world and exerting influence on behalf of the Morpheus team.
Diana Montgomery — Xavier’s love, she is not psychic, but has a lifelong fascination with forbidden knowledge, having worked at the Smithsonian and followed her father’s obsession with incongruous evidence of ancient artifacts in places where they shouldn’t be (such as the Grand Canyon’s rumored trove of Egyptian treasures, where she met Xavier). Currently working at NASA, she’s helping Caleb and the team pierce the mysteries surrounding artificial structures and (possibly) alien architecture discovered on the moon, Mars and elsewhere…
Lydia Gregory — Caleb’s wife, deceased. She died tragically (and accidentally) as Xavier Montross breached the traps guarding the Emerald Tablet, which Caleb had hidden without Lydia’s knowledge under their own modern lighthouse in New York.
Alexander Crowe — Caleb and Lydia’s teenage son and strong psychic in his own right. He had to grow up too fast, despite Caleb wishing for a different life for his son. He feels immense guilt at his mother’s death.
Aria Greenmeyer — Alexander’s age, Aria was rescued from a terrorist group in Afghanistan, who had been using her to operate invisibly; her talent is that she ‘shields’ her presence and those around her from the sight of remote viewers.
Nina Osseni — A former skilled agent and assassin, she had worked for the former head of Stargate, infiltrating (and murdering members of) the organization known as The Keepers, and then forcing Caleb to help them solve the riddle of the Pharos. Grievously injured, she had been in a coma in the Stargate facility, where she gave birth to twins…Caleb’s sons Jacob and Isaac.
Jacob Osseni — Of the twins born to Nina, Jacob is the only one left. Caleb was unaware of the twins, his own sons, as Nina had been presumed dead. She held a major grudge against Caleb for not seeking her out, or even using his senses to know he had other children. In the absence of their parents, Jacob and his brother Isaac were adopted by senator Mason Calderon, who used their remote vision abilities to eliminate enemies and set the stage to nearly destroy all of civilization.
Mason Calderon — Former senator who had pursued the path of the Enemy, attempting to clear the world of humanity. His spirit form was annihilated in battle with Xavier, who then was able to take over Mason’s body and assume his identity.
Edgerrin Temple — the most recent head of Stargate. He had stepped in after the demise of George Waxman, and offered assistance to the Morpheus team as a means of penance for crimes against Caleb and his family. He later handed the reins over to Caleb to run the organization.
Dedication
For all the visionaries out there…
Epigraph
“Men will seek out as well the inner nature of the holy spaces which no foot may tread, and will chase after them into the height, desiring to observe the nature of the motion of the heavens. These are yet moderate things which they will do. For nothing more remains than Earth’s remotest realms: nay, in their daring they will track out night. The farthest night of all.”
“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.”
Prologue
The eighty-six-year old Nikola Tesla stared out the window and watched the rain pour down the glass. Outside, the clouds unleashed their somber cargo upon the New Yorkers, drenching the streets and buildings in a constant, dreary downfall. The only reason he had opened the dark shade, normally drawn in service to his hypersensitivity to light, was in the hopes he would see a lightning storm over the rooftops.
Other than a distant flashing, there was nothing outside to interest his attention.
Besides, his vision was firmly set on other sights.
He knew what was coming. Had known for some time. His room was prepared, even more spotless, sanitized and perfect than usual. The pigeon cage was empty, his last injured bird fed and released into the sky. He hadn’t had room service in days, wanting no trace of crumbs, or even the scent of food. His body was tiring, weak and frail, and soon he knew, it would give out and cease to provide the valuable transport of his mind — the mind that still plagued him with unfocused barrage of such sights, schematics and technical specifications for devices at once practical and deadly.
As he stared out the window, he saw not the city skyline or the yellow cabs driving through puddles or the sea of multi-colored umbrellas. He saw instead an evening sky dominated by colossal zeppelins traversing overhead while electrical flashes pulsed across the dim stars. Great towers lorded over the city, expelling plasma discharges into the atmosphere and arcing from tower to tower as silvery trains slid along elevated railways and giant screens flashed images of news and numbers…