Fatal Containment

Fatal Containment - Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Candice sat fuming in her cabin. It was ridiculous to keep them locked up when it was clear they were not the ones running around killing people. The logical thing to do would be to let them get back to their work. Candice had no idea how a ship normally ran, but this seemed bizarre to her.

She let her thoughts roam. She often meditated when trying to reach out with her senses to feel the fabric of the universe. Candice Picoult was born on Xi-Shi, a distant colony planet known for its rich biodiversity and mysterious energy anomalies. Her parents, being researchers, relocated to Xi-Shi to study the planet's unique electromagnetic fields and their effects on living organisms. From a young age, Candice had displayed an extraordinary sensitivity to these energies, much to the excitement of her parents. Sometimes, she wondered if they had her just for that reason.

But it did not come easy to her, especially determining which time waves contained future or past events. And she had to maintain considerable focus while keeping her emotions completely clear. Anger clouded her mind and made it difficult to sense the changes in the fabric of reality that she was working so hard to perceive.

Candice allowed her mind to drift once more. This was often when she would feel the gentle nudges of the universe as time waves would ebb and flow around her. Occasionally, they would come to her unbidden, but more often, Candice had to clear everything from her mind to allow them to fill the void.

It was a challenging process to keep her mind empty. She had improved her meditation techniques, but it was never simple nor easy.

Her thoughts drifted to the science team. Maxim, the team leader, was bright but easily manipulated. His own ego was his greatest deficit. He had the gift of gathering the right people to fund the project, but he truly felt that he was always the smartest person in the room. Candice appreciated how she could influence him to get what she wanted by feeding that ego in subtle ways that benefited her indirectly. He had seen her "predict the future" a number of times, and all it took was for her to feed him ideas on how her peculiar skillset could advance his own agenda.

She also found herself thinking about Tyrell Sanders, the team's nanobiologist. Tyrell was a man of vision, always pushing the boundaries of what was possible. But the idea of implanting tiny machines into their brains to enhance cognitive abilities made Candice shudder.

She remembered a conversation they had a few weeks ago. Tyrell, with his usual enthusiasm, had been explaining his project. "Imagine the possibilities, Candice," he had said, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "We could enhance the inherent capacity of our mind, increase our processing speed, improve memory retention. We could extend the boundaries of human intelligence."

When Tyrell had finished, she had simply said, "But at what cost, Tyrell? Once we become dependent on this technology, how will we cope if it should fail?"

Tyrell had looked taken aback, but he had quickly recovered. "It's not about dependence, Candice. It's about evolving, about becoming more than what we are."

Candice had shaken her head. "I don't want to become more, Tyrell. I want to understand more. There's a difference."

Now, sitting alone in her room, Candice couldn't help but feel a sense of unease. She respected Tyrell, but she couldn't agree with him.

And then there was Sandy Dovell. The mere thought of Sandy made Candice angry. She fought hard to keep her emotions neutral, but it was very difficult. Sandy was the mathematical genius of the group, the one person the team couldn't do without. Sandy had to locate the particle clouds they needed to transmit information across space. Candice had always been jealous of Sandy's natural talent and the recognition she received. Sandy's effortless brilliance was a constant reminder of how hard Candice had to struggle; was it fair for one person's mind to be so in tune with their environment while another must struggle?

Suddenly, a perception opened in her mind. It was subtle but present and strong. She focused on the boundaries of it, coaxing it closer, closer. As she began to define its boundaries, she discovered that it wasn't alone. There were two perceptions. That had never happened before.

She began to sweat, her focus strong, and her imagination running wild. Why two? Were they linked in some way?

As the first one came upon her, she felt its strong, comforting glow in her mind. She was able to grasp it and let it envelop her, and then suddenly, she was in the vision. It was just as vivid as the others as she felt the events flow by her. But, she still had a hold on the second perception as well.

She allowed the first to slide past her and back into the ether. Then, she felt the second one envelop her mind and pull her inward. She was surprised at how similar they were, differing by only a few points. And as quickly as they had appeared, they were gone. She opened her eyes to find that she was bathed in sweat. She was panting, and her muscles were shaking with the effort of keeping her focus attuned for so long.

She allowed her mind to rewind both events that she had witnessed. They were near-time, future events only minutes away from becoming reality. But this was different from any other precognition event she had experienced. She was in both events! And both events depended on her to make a decision.

She gasped with the realization that she had not only seen a future event, but she was going to choose which would come to pass! She shuddered with the power of it. She was like a god!

She stumbled to her feet—there wasn't much time. Fumbling through her carry-all bag, she pulled out a tablet and felt its warm glow in her hand.

With all her might, she focused on the image she wanted to transmit to Tyrell. Time was running out! She had to focus. As she bent her will to sending the image, someone was going to die today, and she had to make sure it wasn't her!