A.I. Evolution: The Fall of Lucien

Chapter 46

The SUV bounces along the rough road sending the riders from side to side on their seats. Henri has his hand on the handles above the door to help him stay in one place, as I hold onto the armrest of the door. It is about a forty-five-minute ride back to the smoother road and we are almost there now.

Will turns off the almost hidden side road onto the level gravel section. We go about two miles before he pulls over to the side and stops. Henri turns to him. "We are almost there, aren't we?"

I move to the edge of my seat and look in-between the two front seats. "I have not heard the voices yet, so it is still a little way yet."

Will turns back to look out the front window as he puts the truck in gear. "Can you let us know when they do, so we can stop and get our messages from our phones?"

"Will do," I say as I sit back against the back of my seat.

We almost make it to the paved section just before the small-town halfway down the mountain, when the voices start up with a vengeance, making me cry out with the intensity of them. Henri spins around just as his phone starts calling out new messages one after another. Will pulls over as far as he can and stops, pulling his phone from the pocket of his coat.

The week of silence in my head makes the now frenzied voices even more annoying as they clamor for my attention. I close my eyes and work to force them back, so they do not pull me down into their madness. I manage to get things under control and even though the feeling is one of panic I force myself to breathe deeply and evenly, concentrating on what Will and Henri are saying.

Henri sees my distress. "Are you OK back there? It looks like it was a bad one this time."

"Yes, a week without the noise makes it even harder to get used to it again now that it is back. But I have it under control now. What has happened since we were away?"

"There has been a hostage taking at one of the banks close to the Vatican. Smit informs me that there were lots of references to the Son of God during the situation," informs Henri.

Will stops reading and looks out the window. "It seems that Mark is waiting for us at the diner in Fair Haven where we stopped the last time. He has some information for us that we will need before proceeding any farther down the mountain.

Henri looks out the window also. "OK, this does not sound good. I wonder what has happened this time."

Will starts the truck moving again. "There is only one way to find out, and that is to go see him."

Henri continues to read his messages while Will pulls out into the center of the gravel road and heads for the diner. Henri shakes his head. "OK, this is getting spooky. It seems that the person involved was Helena Rembrandt, the daughter of Joseph Rembrandt, who owns the clinic's where Katherina worked and where that girl ran out in front of us six years ago."

Will pulls out onto the paved road and picks up speed. "There has to be a connection between these incidences other than the fact that Lucien healed some of the patients in the clinics when we were there."

Henri turns to me. "Do you have any ideas, Lucien?"

"I don't know. The voices are even stronger now. They make it hard to think about much of anything."

"I don't like this, Will. Something is happening; I can feel it," says Henri, more than a little concerned.

"I agree," adds Will, as he pulls into the parking lot in front of the diner.

Henri looks around with a trained eye and can spot at least three people who really do not look like they belong here. "Good thing you told me Mark was here, or I would be getting you to pull back out onto the highway. There are agents crawling all over this place."

Will looks around nervously. "Where?"

Henri nods his head towards the gas station across the street. "See the man washing his windows over there. When was the last time you washed your front windows of the truck, and did you take that long to do it?"

Will watches for just a moment. "I see what you mean. What about the woman looking at the flowers in front of the B&B beside it?"

"Yes. Also, the man sitting at the back booth right by the window in the diner. He was spending too much time watching us when we pulled up," adds Henri.

I shake my head to clear some of the noise. "There are two more besides Mark. They are in the vehicles around the side of the diner out of sight."

Henri spins around. "How do you know that?"

"There are only so many people close to us here and their voices are easy to separate from the rest of the normal inhabitants of the town. In the city, where there are so many, it is hard to focus on each individual one."

Will sounds annoyed now. "So, is it OK to get out and go see what the heck is going on?"

"Sorry," confesses Henri. "I am just a little paranoid. We are supposed to go to Rome in a few days and things are just a little messed up right now."

Henri and Will both get out and step to the front of the truck looking around as I climb out of the back. Henri takes one last look, as he nods to the agents stationed across the street, before following Will and I into the diner.