The Crystal Tower (The Ethereal Vision Book 3) by Liam Donnelly

Author:Liam Donnelly [Donnelly, Liam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Liam Donnelly
Published: 2018-02-05T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

CRIMSON

Nathan Dowley was heading away from Union Square in the city of San Francisco. In his hand, he carried a bag of groceries from an upscale food market. He’d had several meetings that day, and he smiled as he thought about them. They had gone well, and to him that meant one thing—a future that included more time with his daughter. The smile on his face was as much about her as it was about the success of the meetings. His company was now in line for a lucrative contract providing new AI applications to government agencies.

“Sheryl,” he said, addressing his AI through his earpiece, “taxi, please.”

He stood at the edge of the sidewalk and, as he waited, drew his cellphone from his pocket and unlocked it. Immediately, a picture of his daughter appeared. It was a selfie, showing her in an unusual posture with people her own age in the background. A handwritten caption underneath read, Yoga?! Seriously, Dad?

He grinned. He had known she probably wouldn’t enjoy the class, but he had encouraged her to try it nonetheless, hoping she would make some new friends.

“Your transport is arriving in one minute, sir,” Sheryl said.

“Thank you,” he said. His AI was advanced, but nowhere near as advanced as what the military or the—

Nathan glanced away from his phone as thoughts of the Committee ran through his mind. He knew little about them—only what the major news channels had broadcast, and the few pieces of information to which his company had access. Further investigation had revealed that some of his own company’s technology could be traced back to the Committee, which was using it at undisclosed locations. Nathan knew a serious incident had occurred at a concealed site in New York. He also knew the fire in the facility in Hong Kong had been caused by some kind of extremist group, Ethereal End, that now appeared to have gone underground. Had they been involved in the incident in New York also? He pondered this for a moment before placing his cellphone back in his pocket.

Glancing up, he saw a taxi pull around a corner. On instinct, he knew it was his. Just as it rounded the bend and approached his location, he felt something shake beneath his feet. Nathan glanced down, his brow furrowing slightly as he felt mild vibrations rising through his body. The minute trembling stopped a few seconds later. He knew it was unlikely to be an earthquake; stabilization systems had been in place along the San Andreas fault line since 2025. That ruled out most possibilities except the only obvious remaining one: a psionic. However, he refused to acknowledge that a single person—psionic or not—could have caused the quake, and so returned his attention to the automated taxi as it approached.

As the troubling thoughts faded, Nathan looked up at the sky and watched the puffy white clouds, from which shone golden arcs of light. He squinted as he looked at them, though, for the beauty was absent.

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