Chapter 16

For a long moment all either of them could do was gape. What they had taken to be an empty column housed at least two dozen of Sanborn's victims or what was left of them. Not a human body remained within the column instead vats hung suspended on a cylindrical metal frame work in the center of the room. In each of the vats floated a human brain and spinal column.

From each of the brains ran thousands of tiny tubes filled with blue fluid, replacing what would have been blood. They all flowed back into a central column held within the metal frame work. The central column contained the same blue fluid. Twining up from the outside of it ran coolant tubes as thick as a man filled with red liquid nitrogen. Electrical nodes and wires ran from the disembodied brains back to the central column and it was topped by what might be considered something that was both brain and computer.

"What is this?" Lucas asked half in awe and half revulsion. Alex was holding onto the frame of the door like it was a life preserver. "We're too late," she said softly. Lucas took her by the shoulders, he almost shook her in disbelief.

"What do you mean we're too late? Alex, this is your area not mine. What is it?" he asked frantically. She wasn't even looking at him she was looking past him to the monstrosity beyond, shaking her head is despair.

"He's killed them. Lucas, that's a synthetic brain. He's wired them all into a synthetic brain. Scientist have been trying to replicate the human brain for years. I don't know how but he's done it. He doesn't need to keep their bodies alive anymore, the only thing left is their brains. He's created a hive mind. You have no idea the power he will be able to wield with that thing," she stammered. Lucas looked back at the horrific mechanism as what she meant hit him.

"He's going to use it to control the world's population. Force them to stop anything he considers a crime." he voiced his eyes going wide, chill bumps rose on his skin and he could feel his hair standing on end.

"Yes and with that many psychics in there he can do it. There is always one psychic to every scientist, they were supposed to work in pairs. Some how he's found a way to separate the consciousness from the body and keep it in the brain. But there's no way to put them back Lucas. The technology doesn't exist!" she rambled.

Lucas released his hold on her, turning in a frantic circle. The blue and red fluid reminded him of something. He moved closer looking and discovered why. He went stark white and stepped away from the cylinder like it was a viper.

"That's blue moon and liquid nitrogen. Clay Marshall used it to modify himself, it replaced his blood. If those two come into contact it will become the densest liquid energy known to man. We're sitting on top of a time bomb," Lucas said his voice full of fear and dread. He nearly dove at the nearest computer console , the inner wall of the column was lined with them. Alex stood transfixed by what she saw.

He was keying up the communications system so fast he thought the interface might burst into flames. He hit the connect button and waited impatiently for it to uplink. Bridger's face popped up in front of him without so much as a delay. One look at him told Lucas the expression on his own face had the Captain more than a little worried.

"Lucas..." Nathan began but Lucas cut him off.

"Captain get over here now. The weapons system is shut down you can get in free and clear. But we can't save them. We have bigger problems. He's taken their brains out of their bodies, made some sort of hive mind out of them. Captain, he can use them to control the world population. No one will have free will," he spat out as fast as his vocal cords would allow. Bridger was growing steadily whiter with each word.

"Can you shut it down?" he asked dead serious. Lucas shook his head.

"I don't know Captain. I don't even know if it's been initiated yet. This isn't something I'm used to working with. Alex is the biomedical engineer not me," he confessed.

"Can she?" Bridger replied his voice growing sharper with every second.

"I don't know. This may be beyond her expertise too. Captain there's more. He's powering it with syntium and cooling it with liquid nitrogen. We're sitting on a time bomb. If they come in contact each other, it's not only going to kill us and blow this station into oblivion it's going to reactivate the volcano this place is standing on," he explain. He hadn't thought the Captain could look any whiter. He was wrong.

"Lucas, you and Alex have got to make sure Sanborn can't initialize that thing. We're on our way. Just be careful," he said, his face had gone so white someone might have painted him that color.

Lucas didn't get a chance to reply, the door finally gave way and the guards poured in like angry ants with Sanborn in the lead. Alex turned in time to see them baring down on them and they both tried for the column door but Sanborn was faster. He hit something on the outside console and the column door slid closed before they could reach it. Lucas tried to over ride it but couldn't, something in the cylinder whined and the column's wall became translucent, Only the electricity playing over its surface was still visible. Sanborn stood outside it smiling maniacally.

"I already told you, you can't stop me." Sanborn crackled over the communications system. He fingered the console and the inside of the cylinder lit up like a Christmas tree. Sliding his hand up the panel the whole thing seemed to come alive. He was initiating start up on the system and they were locked inside. Lucas slammed his fist on the column wall.

"You're jeopardizing all our lives!" he yelled at him. Sanborn disregarded him as he worked on the console.

"You have to stop this! Is this justice? Is this moral? The ethics of intentions Sanborn. Is that it? Anything is justified as long as you think the end is for the good of man kind?" Alex added, her voice rising until she was almost screaming. Sanborn didn't bother to look up.

"It doesn't matter. The world will be free of war and crime. Maybe even natural disaster. Any thing is worth that. Anything!" he yelled and the cylinder roared with energy. The roar should have leveled out as the capacitor diverted energy and kept the flow steady but it wasn't. The roar was getting louder. Something had gone wrong, the machine's reactor was over loading.

The console out side exploded in a shower of glass and electronic parts. Sanborn flew back, propelled by the force of the blast. His limp form slammed to the ground in a smoldering heap. There was no doubt the blast had killed him, his head was burnt to a crisp, where eyes had once been there were only charred sockets. The floor beneath them was beginning to shake as the overload spread to the auxiliary systems.

Alex leapt into action taking over one of the computer consoles trying to find a way to stop the overload. She squeezed her eyes shut briefly and swayed. Her knees tried to give way and Lucas caught her just in time.

"Alex! Are you alright?" he asked panicked. She moaned in pain and held her head in her hands. It was then that he noticed the blood seeping into the hair at the back of her head. The jack had done more damage than either of them thought. She got her balance back and pulled away from him, launching back into the computer. "I'm fine it's just a headache." she reasoned feebly as she tried to stop the system somehow.

"You aren't fine. Alex, you're bleeding, something is wrong! That jack has ruptured something!" he insisted. What could he do but pray the seaQuest got here in time and had a better solution than they did? She ignored him and kept working. Lucas could do nothing, he had no idea how to operate a system that was as much biological as it was computer. Now it was up to her, if she could do it. She growled in frustration and hit the console as hard as she could.

"Shut down the main power core." he suggested, the cylinder was roaring so loud now they had to pitch their voices over the ear splitting sound. Alex shook her head.

"I tried! I can't, Sanborn over rode the internal controls, it can't be done from in here!" she yelled back. As if to emphasize the point several of the computer banks on the opposite side of the column blew like pyrotechnics. Lucas and Alex both jumped back to avoid the sparks and flames issuing from them. Alex tried to catch her self on the wall, but something gave in that instant and she buckled, sliding down it instead. Lucas fell to his knees beside her, scooping her up into his arms. She was too weak to try and get up and her breath was coming in jagged rasps.

"Alex? Alex? Can you hear me?" he pleaded frantically. She managed to open her eyes and gaze up at him, the light was going out of them. Blood was seeping faster from the wound in her head, his sleeve was slowly becoming saturated with it.

"I hear you Lucas." she whispered, he could barely hear her over the roar of the cylinder. He pulled her into his lap, cradling her like a child. He knew she was dying.

"You're going to be okay just hold on. Don't you leave me!" he demanded desperately, one hand caressing her cheek. She smiled at him weakly, her frame seizing momentarily in pain.

"I don't think I have a choice this time." she breathed. He could feel her heart beat against his chest. It came in erratic thumps, they were growing increasingly farther apart. Something else in the column blew but he didn't bother to see what.

He didn't care, nothing but her existed now. He could feel tears welling in his eyes and some of them escaped their confines and fell softly. He lowered his head to hers and kissed her long and delicately knowing it would be the last. He pulled away reluctantly and looked deep into her eyes. He said the only thing he could, the one thing he hadn't before and should have. Before now he had been too afraid. Now it was the only thought in his head.

"I love you." he whispered into her ear. She shivered, somehow she managed to raise one hand and caress his cheek. He caught it holding it there, savoring that moment while he could. A vibrant smile bloomed on her lips.

"I know. I always have." she whispered back as she went limp and the last breath slid from her body. All the light slipped from her eyes and he pulled her to his chest rocking her back and forth, sobs racking him so hard he didn't think he could ever stop.

"Oh God. No, no, no. no." The last thing he knew something within the facility shook violently and blew with a spectacular blast. Then there was darkness.