11

Valika had been down in the Aura operations center several times and had witnessed the progression from a rough cavern hewn out of the igneous rock to its present incarnation. The chamber was a quarter mile deep into the side of the volcano and resembled a spacious movie theater for a very elite group of viewers. There were twenty chairs spaced evenly about fifteen feet from each other on a sloping floor. The chairs had high backs and footrests and were made of the finest leather. Behind each chair was a computer with a technician monitoring it.

At the very rear, Souris was seated in her own chair, leads connected to the top of her head in the appropriate places. The members of the Ring were gathered round as she went through the procedures to initiate Aura. A half dozen people in white coats monitored machinery in a balcony above the main floor, controlling the master computer. The dog and pony show was about to begin-Valika had once heard an American officer call a formal presentation that, and she thought it quite appropriate.

“You won’t see or feel the field until the computer shows it to you,” Souris said. “The frequency it’s set on now is perfectly safe.”

The lights dimmed, flickered, then came back at a subdued level.

“The power requirement is one issue we need to resolve,” Souris said. “The field currently requires tremendous input. We use enough energy in one half-hour session here to light a small city for twenty-four hours. When we use the portable Aura transmitter, we only have about three minutes of transmission time before we completely drain the batteries. We have several promising leads in research that we think will pay dividends shortly in that area.”

Valika shifted her feet as Cesar frowned. Souris had no idea how to work people. Valika had known scientists like her before-people who felt their research should be unfettered by such constraints as politics or funding. Valika’s skin tingled very briefly.

“Aura is now all around you,” Souris said, her eyes closed. A slight smile twisted her lips.

“Will we have to put those things on our head to see it?” Naldo asked Cesar.

“No.” Souris ’s voice was almost a whisper. “The connector that allows you to view Aura is built into the headrest of the chair. All we are doing is giving you a window into the virtual plane. You will not travel there as I do. Go to your chairs and you will see what I am seeing.”

Reluctantly the surviving members of the Ring, led by Cesar, each took a chair. Souris indicated a different chair for Valika, one like her own. A technician attached leads to Valika’s head. She had done this before and ranked it about the equivalent of flying in terms of fondness. Valika leaned back, feeling her body sink into the leather. The tingling sensation, stronger this time, passed through her. The American’s voice came out of small speakers built into the headrest.

“The chair is now beginning to transmit a frequency that will orient your mind to the Aura field. Close your eyes and relax.”

Valika was overwhelmed by a sudden weariness as if all energy were being drained from her body. Her eyelids were like sheets of lead, clamped down, darkness encompassing her world. Souris ’s voice was very distant.

“You are now getting in congruence with Aura. We are going to give you a very simple demonstration of what the virtual plane is like.”

Valika blinked as the room grew brighter. But she wasn’t in the room. And her eyes-she could swear her eyes were still closed, but it was difficult to tell. The light took on form. Saba. But she was above it. At the very top of the volcano. She’d been here before, marching up with the island security chief to lay out the sniper positions. But how had she-She turned but there was no sense of movement, just the panorama changing. There was no sense of her body. She looked down and saw a human form, but one without features, with flat white feet on the volcanic rock-no, check that, the feet were floating a couple of inches above the rock.

“I’ve concentrated on programming it for the members of the Ring as dictated by Cesar.” There was a click, then Souris was addressing the members of the Ring. “Now let us show you an example of what Aura can do.”

A white plank appeared in front of Valika, extending about twenty feet into space and ending at nothing. Then a square shape came into being at the end of the plank, coalescing into a building, floating in space. The door swung open.

“Go ahead,” Souris urged.

Valika tentatively took steps out toward the building. She had no sensation of moving but the door grew closer until she was inside. It looked exactly like the courtyard at Cesar’s mansion.

Suddenly other shadowy figures still in their chairs flickered into view.

“You can now see each other in your virtual world,” Souris said.

The avatars shifted form until Valika could recognize each. Cesar was to her right. The other members of the Ring appeared. Their faces were expressionless but identifiable.

“This is the safe mode of Aura,” Souris continued. “With a little bit of experience we can get to the point where your body receives external feedback, so that your senses other than sight function as if you are really there. Which would make this”-the chamber flickered for a second, then a dozen naked women appeared, some lounging about next to the pool, others strolling provocatively-“more than just a show. It would be real to you.”

There was a slight click, then Souris ’s voice came back. “I am sorry, Valika, about this display. Señor Cesar said I must do something his comrades would appreciate.”

“Can I speak to you?” Valika felt herself say the words, but couldn’t hear them.

“Yes. We are on a private link. This show is designed to go for another ten minutes. Quite disgusting.”

Valika could see that two of the women next to the pool were now kissing. The men’s shadows were watching. “Can I leave here?”

“Where would you like to go?” Souris asked.

“What are my options?”

“This Aura field covers a little over a mile in width. You can travel anywhere on Saba inside the field. I can also generate various scenarios from the database-much like this room-for you.”

The courtyard flickered, then was gone. Valika stood in a room she immediately recognized. Her mother and father’s apartment in Moscow. A dingy, two-room affair overlooking the square, across from the university where he was a guest lecturer.

“I designed it from photos Cesar gave me,” Souris said.

Something came into being to Valika’s left and she turned. Souris was there.

“Why this?” Valika asked.

“Cesar said it was the last time you were happy,” Souris said simply.

Valika remembered talking to Cesar late one night, after she had foiled an attempt on his life by a rival gang. They’d both drunk too much and she’d said too much.

“The others are only able to see the display I put on,” Souris said. “They would need the leads on their head, like you have, in order to have an avatar. I did not think them ready for that. The forms you saw in there were just two-dimensional projections.”

The door started to swing open. Valika felt a surge of excitement, anticipating her mother, immediately feeling foolish for such a thought.

“Who are you?” There was surprise and shock in Souris ’s voice as a strange man walked in. “How did you get here?”

The man was tall and thin, his form not quite solid. He looked at both of them and settled into the chair that had been her father’s. “My name is Jonathan Raisor.”

Valika was surprised to see his mouth move as he spoke. She turned to Souris. “What is this?”

The man looked about. “Not bad, but couldn’t you have come up with something a little fancier? Your comrades viewing the women by the pool are enjoying themselves. I did not think it wise to interfere in that presentation. Still, I can’t complain. This is the first chance I’ve had to sit down in quite a while.” He laughed, a manic edge to it. “As a matter of fact, this is the first time I’ve had a body in quite a while.”