CARTER [P2C4] – Eye In The Sky
The Chronicles of Samuel Carter – Part II: Chapter Four
This is Part Two of the Chronicles of Samuel Carter. If you haven’t read Part One, yet, please find the link below.
And now for the continuation…
Part II – Chapter Four: Eye In The Sky
“Samuel Cornelius Carter! Stop licking the wall!” Anthea shouted, but Samuel didn’t listen, standing on the sofa, hugging the wall with his face, his tongue white with chalk.
His mother approached. He tried to get one more lick, but she pinched his earlobe, pulling him away under wailing protest.
Someone was tucking on his arm now, holding him.
A face appeared. Pale, thin, a ghost of a man in grey uniform. Looking past the Spook, Samuel saw an onyx pod. He recognised the shape; he had seen it before. A familiar voice from behind urged him to relax, a strange notion as he felt more than relaxed, detached.
With a flash of light, he was under his blanket in his dark, flower-tapestried room, a bed too small, a half-open brown plywood cupboard covered in soccer stickers, and a cardboard battlefield for his toy soldiers and tanks spread across the carpet. In the middle of it lay a blob of colourful, overused plasticine. For some reason, he felt so hungry he thought about eating it but had already done so once and had decided he didn’t like it. Besides, he had other plans, plans he was mulling over, lying on his back, watching the headlights from passing cars throwing long spidery shadows, crawling across the ceiling, morphing shapes, a creature guessing game, elephants, dragons, bears, snakes, eagles, a giant eye in the sky, a sign. The universe had spoken. They had to do it. He had to tell his friend but couldn’t find his walkie-talkie.
“Are you alright, Doctor Carter?” said Professor von Traunstein.
“Yes, a bit lightheaded…”
“He’s attuning,” said the Spook.
“Bartleby is our CT Officer. He’s on our side.”
“Our side? What side is that? Care to explain?”
“I prefer not to,” the Spook replied.
“Okay… what did you mean? Attune to what?”
Bartleby looked at the Professor, who nodded.
“The energy-based entity currently residing inside you senses the pod, a construct built by who we believe to be the ones who imprisoned your passenger inside these pods thousands of years ago. You have seen this device before.”
“At the manor.”
“That’s right. However, this particular X-Point surrounds the whole U-Boat, an electron diffusion region, within which we have built all this. We shielded the pod inside an electromagnetic bubble. Once we reverse polarity, the energy will be forced from its current vessel and transferred into the pod.” The Spook grinned, his teeth a jumble of yellow. He turned to the professor. “I’d almost given up on you. You’re late. Had to hide inside one of the torpedo tubes yesterday, bloody Brotherhood.”
“Ze snowstorm delayed everything, and then Erich’s men got to us at ze airport.”
“Well, you’re here now. Are we going to do this?”
“Wait—I am the vessel. Don’t I get to have a say?”
“No,” said the Spook.
“Doctor Carter, I’m afraid we are out of time. This is our best chance.”
“Here, take this.” The Spook handed Samuel a walkie-talkie.
Samuel was back in his room, under the blanket, thumb on the talk button. Otto would still be awake, playing with his He-Man collection.
“Otto, come in. Over.” He waited a few seconds. “Otto. Operation C-Bird is a go!” He pushed the talk button again. “Over.”
“What are you talking about? Let me sleep. I can’t tomorrow. Mum’s taking me to the hairdresser,” Otto lamented.
“You have to say Over, Otto! Over.”
“OK. Over.”
“No, we’re doing this. At sunrise, we’ll be back before everyone wakes up. Over.”
“You’re crazy.”
“You finished? Over.”
“Yeah. Over.”
“I figured it out. It will work. I know it.”
The magnetic hum was ringing in his ears. Samuel looked at the walkie-talkie, then at Bartelby and the Professor. “It wants me to remember something…”
“Interesting. Focus on that. We’ll observe from ze command room while you, uh, try to remember. Ze magnetic field should funnel ze energy into ze pod. Think of it like a quick X-ray. We’ll be right outside, Doctor Carter,” said the professor.
They ushered him into the torpedo room. In the centre of it, the smooth oval onyx pod the size of a child exuded a brooding mood. The hatch closed, and the Professor gave him a thumbs-up through the glass. His walkie-talkie crackled.
“Once the field reverses, you will feel a slight tingle. If all works well, we will be one step closer to a better world, Doctor Carter.”
Samuel stared at the pod. The air swirled around it in a haze, yet he felt cold.
“Think of that memory it wants, relax and let it happen. Don’t resist. Ten seconds,” said the professor.
Samuel closed his eyes and counted down from ten. The magnetic hum folded into itself. Nine. Reversing. Eight. Accelerating. Seven. The air crackled. Six. The walkie-talkie slipped from his hand. Five. It didn’t fall; it hung in mid-air. Four. Stuck like a spoon in honey, golden shimmering air dripping from it. Three. Flowing towards the pod. Two. A life cord. One. Connected.
“Doctor Beaumont, Samuel keeps licking the walls. We don’t know what to do,” he heard his mother say from behind a paravent, saw her silhouette and another, a man, blouse rustling, hands groping, mother moaning. “Oh, but the boy…”
“Fast asleep. A slight side effect of the serum. It will pass. Just stick to the dosage, as we discussed. He’ll be fine.”
Fine. So fine. The finest of threads, neurons speeding along, carrying signals to their new destination, impulses, fragments, memories, streaming along a golden network of light, leaving, never returning, gone. Forever.
The receptacle eager, hollow, path to nowhere and everywhere, a nexus of endless X-Points. A sudden surge. Energy ripped through him; a chant echoed from afar.
Talha Ka Ran Bara’da Kan.
Someone was summoning him—it. He felt the pull. It didn’t resist. He could do nothing. He was the passenger, the vessel, sucked into a molten vortex of liquid light.
The SM-Hellstone shook, vibrated, and with a blast of white was gone.
The Science of CARTER
You may have wondered about those X-Points or Electron Diffusion Regions. Interested in finding out more? Here’s a video from NASA. There are also theoretical papers and much more on the MMS website.
The Tech
The tech in CARTER, e.g. AR or VR contact lenses, hints at a near future setting.
TFTD Community
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The Melville reference was subtle but inspired.
Again, I really love the energy in the dialogue and then in juxtaposition with the narration. You create a useful rhythm between characters and action. Also really enjoying this idea of a magnetic pull.