A/N Big thanks to my two reviewers, and the last round of the long weekend updates! Two funerals, and a trip to Argentina.
Want to hear the song that's playing? on youtube (.com/watch?v=Huejqu5qgE0)
FIVE
New York, 1943
No one noticed the woman in the cemetery that watched the funeral from afar. She held onto a small black umbrella and stood quietly to herself under a tree.
It's a travesty, she thought, how few people are here.
Most of the funeral procession was made up of journalists. Even then, there couldn't have been more than ten people surrounding the coffin. The priest scattered a few handfuls of earth over the coffin and finished his sermon.
She didn't know where he was, what he was doing or if she would ever see him again.
Well, these were uncertain times. Even now she had risked a great deal to be here instead of in England supporting the war effort. The tide had begun to turn to he Allied Forces favour … but war was unpredictable and she daily lived with the question if she would see tomorrow.
Wherever you are, you mad bastard, I bet you're laughing. Insufferable.
Tesla had disappeared, rumouredly after a private meeting with Eisenhower where he presented the president with one of his inventions and claimed his work for the war effort was done. That America had as much won the war with his brilliance and he now had more important things to do.
Helen wondered if he was even alive. He had to be … Nikola Tesla could even talk his way out of death. But the thought made her squirm that he might be the first one of the Five that was gone.
There was a sudden clap of thunder and the skies rumbled. The funeral attendants ran for cover, shielding themselves from the sudden downpour.
Helen saw a brilliant flash of lighting streak through the sky. She found herself smiling, suddenly reassured of her doubts. There was no lighting, no electricity, without a mad Serbian somewhere in the world dancing around in it.
Helen's team picked their way through the Sanctuary, after having picked up Henry first thing in the morning. The Big Guy walked protectively beside him even though the immediate threat was gone. Will had already spoken to Declan, and temporary Headship of the Sanctuary had been transferred to him.
"Damn," Kate muttered under her breath as they walked carefully through the Sanctuary's walls. The building was dark and deadly quiet.
They had a lot of work ahead of them, but Helen was still counting her blessings on how lucky they had been.
"First, we'll have to restore power. Next, try to find our residents. I'll contact some builders to repair damages…" Helen focused the beam of her flashlight on the ceiling to check for any structural faults. "And then we'll put out a bounty to every mercenary group and criminal organization to track down my supposed killer."
Will was incredulous. "You want us to work with these guys?"
Helen smiled dangerously. "This is war, Will. With those groups harassing the Sanctuary network, it will hopefully cover our own activities and provide enough distraction to keep our would-be-nemesis from attempting any more mischief for a while."
Will whispered to John, "Hell hath no fury…" and got a dry chuckle in response.
"Oh, come on." Henry pleaded with his portable tablet, giving it an irritated smack.
"Technical difficulties?" Kate asked bemusedly.
"It just froze." His tablet screen had gone blank and he fiddled with the controls to no avail. The screen flickered a few times and suddenly it began to play music. "What…"
Everyone's mobile phone began playing music from tiny speakers as well. Will and Kate pulled their phones out confused. The screens were blank and wouldn't respond to any commands. All the electronic devices were playing the same song in synchronization.
Helen's eyes widened, her head shaking, unable to believe…
"The roof."
When the Sanctuary team made it up to the roof, it was to see all of Old City taken over by the same phenomenon. All screens were blank, traffic lights blinked, and the entire city had halted to a standstill. People on the streets stood and gazed about in wonder at what was happening.
Lightning flashed across the sky despite there being no rain. And from every device that could transmit sound, the same song played, rising in an eerie chorus that brought tears to Helen's eyes.
Billie Holiday crooned, "Night and day, you are the one, the only thing beneath the moon and under the stars…"
From what they learned afterward, the phenomenon had been worldwide.
For seven minutes and thirty-four seconds all satellites, broadcast towers, communication networks, and mainframes had been hacked by an unknown signal. Every device that operated though wired or wireless transmissions played the same recording by Billie Holiday. All traffic lights, building lights and signs flickered. And lighting struck every continent contrary to climate conditions.
Just as suddenly as it began, it ended and everything resumed to normal. Nation's governments were sent into panic that such a total global hijack of systems was even possible. Every effort was being made to discover the source. Emergency news alerts monopolized every channel to report on the incident.
The Internet positively exploded with buzz over what had just occurred. Fanatical cultists were calling it the end of the world. Extra-terrestrial groups flocked to Roswell and Area 51 believing aliens would finally make their presence known. Conspiracy theories bred like Nubbins in heat, and already people were clamoring over the event and staging their own mini-tributes.
In the midst of it all, Helen Magnus stood alone in knowing what it actually meant. It had been intended for her, after all.
"The day you die, Helen … I'll make sure the entire world lights up."
Helen asked everyone to leave her alone, and she sat by herself on her rooftop. She was too stunned to speak, to even truly think about what had just transpired.
Nikola was alive. And after thinking she herself had died, he had unleashed the most dramatic and overwhelming tribute for her funeral than she thought a single man capable of.
There were too many questions. How was he still alive? How had he escaped the collapsed temple? What had happened in the chamber?
Where was he now? What was he doing? Why hadn't he let her know that he was alive? Why had he never come to see her?
She wasn't quite sure why but Helen felt her heart ache deeply.
"I hate to tell you this, Doc, but if the CIA, NASA, MI6 and the UN couldn't figure out where that transmission came from … then there's zero chance I'll be able to do any better."
Helen was calm outwardly, but everyone could tell something was wrong. She had gone too quiet, too cold … something was simmering under her cool façade and it was deciding to harden into betrayal and anger.
"Run a search on every company that's been founded in the past two years. Telecommunications, military-industrial, alternative energy, industrial development … anything in that family."
Henry nodded dumbly, beginning to run his searches, and afraid to voice the suspicions he had. Helen could sense him squirming and gave him a knowing look. "I don't bite, Henry."
Sheepishly, he kept his eyes trained on his work before tentatively asking, "Does this have anything to do with genius?"
"Yes." The finality in her tone kept Henry from pressing further. His search began sending back results and he read them out.
"Sister company of Warner telecommunications—"
"No. Next."
"New Haliburton branch opened in—"
"Next."
Henry frowned, scratching his head as she skimmed over existing corporations. One company finally leapt of the screen. "Lighthouse Industries. Patent development specializing in commercial industrialism."
Helen went very still. "Where are they based?"
"Buenos Aires."
Helen let out a shaky breath, her eyes closing briefly. "Get my plane ready, please." She was going to Argentina.
Helen didn't sleep a wink during the flight. She stared out the plane window, watching cloud after endless cloud rolled by, caught in a daze.
She still wasn't sure how she felt. Curiously, she was numb. Only slightly trembling on the inside, but mostly hollow. The only thing that seized her without question was an overwhelming imperative to see him with her own eyes.
And possibly wring his neck.
When she stepped off the plane she used a fake passport, and covered her face with dark sunglasses and a headscarf. She was supposed to be dead, after all, and something told her this would all be in vain if she revealed herself.
She rented a motorcycle in a busy market square, and tore down the bustling roads. Wind whipped through her hair. There were flashes of strange aromas, spices, young children kicking soccer balls, and trees. Normally, she would have wanted to stop and admire the beauty of the hot, exotic country. But her heart was filled with a single purpose, somehow heavy, weighting her thoughts.
She stopped only once to buy a bottle of Argentinean wine, which she stowed away in her satchel before setting off on the road again.
It was late afternoon when she arrived at the home base of Lighthouse Industries. It was a renovated warehouse with one distinct landmark: an enormous tower that rose from the center and stood almost a storey high. It reminded her of the Wardenclyffe tower.
Parking her motorcycle, Helen scouted the perimeter of the facilities, noting all of its entry and exit points. Selecting a door that held a blind spot from the surveillance cameras, she quickly picked the lock and slipped inside.
The place was enormous. She saw vast machines that seemed to run on no visible power source littered about the warehouse floor. She couldn't even begin to guess at their purpose.
She quickly made her way across the work floor and found the entrance to the laboratories and offices. Almost immediately she found the door labeled "Dr. Macak". She grinned a little at that. Nikola often used his old cat as a pseudonym.
Taking a deep breath, she opened the door, bracing herself for whatever could be on the other side.
The office was empty.
The furniture was scattered, papers strewn on the floor and a few books toppled over on the shelves. The occupant had evacuated rather quickly.
Bastard! How could he have known she was coming?
And why run? Coward!
Helen closed the door behind her and let her head fall against it with a loud "thump"! Nikola had always been good at disappearing when he didn't want to be found.
She had come all this way, leaving behind her ruined Sanctuary … for this. An empty room.
Frustrated, Helen kicked aside a pile of loose papers with her foot. A piece of paper, heavier than the rest, skidded across the floor. Curious, Helen bent down and picked up what turned out to be a postcard.
It had the image of a young man surfing with the tentacles of a giant squid rising out behind him. It was addressed to "Aureliano" in Will's handwriting. "Don't get eaten!"
Helen pocketed the postcard and walked out of the office with a predatory edge to her step.
It seemed she had to pay a visit to the Sybarites.