"In a manner of speaking," I say. "Dr. Seter, this is all real. I know you have been talking about it so long that it has lost some of its reality to you. But you only have to come with me tonight and bring your group, and you will see a five-thousand-year-old prophecy fulfilled before your very eyes."
He looks at me. "You are not a normal young woman, Alisa. There is something in your face, in your voice, in your eyes. James mentioned it last night and now I see it." He pauses. "How do we know you"re not the Dark Mother?"
I smile sadly. "Some nights I feel as if I am. And even if I were, then that"s all the more reason to heed my warning." Reaching over, I touch his knees. "Trust the inner senses that Suzama"s material has given you. Trust what they are telling you right now." I pause. "Your whole life has led up to this moment."
Dr. Seter flashes a faint smile. "Somehow I can"t imagine you are evil." He turns to James. "I need to talk to my son, alone, for a few minutes, if you please."
I stand and point to the entrance. "We will wait over there. We will give you all the privacy and time you need to decide."
Of course the moment we leave I stand still and listen to every word they say. It is a short but intense conversation.
James: "She knew the name of the Dark Mother! No one in our group except us knows that""
Dr. Seter: "She knows many things I would have thought impossible. But that doesn"t mean we can trust her."
James: "But you heard her argument. It"s the same argument I"ve been giving you for the last few months. Those incidents we read about were all caused by a single deadly force. Only she has put the pieces together much better than we did. I"m telling you, father, I believe her. I say we throw everything we"ve got behind her."
Dr. Seter: "But just last night you were worried she was working for the Dark Mother."
James: "She is not behaving like someone who is trying to harm us. Right now she gave us a ton of information she didn"t have to. Information that could be used against the Dark Mother."
Dr. Seter: "Only if it"s true."
James: "It is true! Look, she only asks us to trust her so far. We will know within seconds of meeting this person if she is the Dark Mother. But she is right, we must be prepared for a major attack. It is the only way to protect our people."
Dr. Seter: "But what if she"s lying to us? If she"s working for the government and is trying to trap our group white it is engaged in illegal activities? Think about it, Jim, we"re going to be storming a residence of some kind. If it is a government trap, we"ll look like just another evil and confused cult in the eyes of the public."
James: "We"ll have her with us when we make our attack. If she"s lied to us, she"ll pay the price."
Dr. Seter: "That"s just talk. You wouldn"t hurt her."
James: "I don"t think I"ll have to hurt her. I think our enemy will be so evil our hatred will be turned totally on her." A pause. "Let"s do it. If we don"t, Father, we will regret it for the rest of our lives. That"s what my inner feelings tell me."
Dr. Seter is a long time answering. But finally he gives his OK.
9.
The attack has yet to begin but already I realize something is very strange. I had initially gone to Dr.
Seter and James because I knew I was physically and emotionally ill-equipped to kill Kalika. She is too strong for me, and I can"t imagine hurting her. All I wanted to do was send in twenty people with guns, close my eyes, and be told it was all over. Your daughter is dead, the world is safe for democracy again.
Yet the Suzama Society seems to be much more than twenty people with guns. It should rea.s.sure me that they are better prepared than I imagined, yet it does not, and I puzzle over this. I stand in Suite 3670, in the commercial building across the street from Kalika"s condo tower. Olympic Boulevard lies between us and my daughter, but at this time of night-three in the morning-it is rare that a car drives by. Beside me are Dr. Seter, Seymour, James, and two sharpshooters with laser-a.s.sisted rifles. They have cut away a circular panel in the gla.s.s and now are focusing their weapons on Kalika"s windows, which are visible, barely-for we are eighteen stories above her. All of Kalika"s windows are covered with vertical blinds, however. We have better views of her two balconies and the large pool far below. Of course, we have a dear view of the roof of the tower. It is at this spot that I stare as my doubts continue to grow.
Dr. Seter and his son have not a.s.sembled a group of spiritual fanatics and trained them how to aim and fire automatic weapons. Instead they have managed to construct the equivalent of a highly trained commando unit. I am staggered by the way they go about surrounding Kalika, who, by the way, is definitely at home. Their attack is much more coordinated than the attack the LAPD and the FBI sprang to capture me and Joel.
There are two units: Alpha Top and Alpha Bottom. The former has somehow managed to make it onto the roof of the building with ropes and pulleys. Alpha Bottom is already on Kalika"s floor. The security guards are apparently unconscious, if we are to believe the radio reports that are constantly streaming in. We"re all tied together with short wave. Both Alpha Top and Alpha Bottom have ten members each, male and female, all dressed in black. They have night goggles, gas grenades, even grenade launchers. Where they bought all this stuff, I have no idea.
I watch as the last of the Alpha Top team a.s.sembles on the roof.
"How do they plan on getting down to Kalika"s balcony?" I ask James, pointing at the people on the roof. James is also dressed in black, a radio in his hand. His face shines with excitement. Apparently he likes playing soldier. The whole situation strikes me as odd, and yet I am the one who instigated it-I think.
"The same way they got on the roof," he says. "We will lower six of them onto the balconies before we attack, three onto each balcony. We won"t attack until everyone is in position. Why?"
"She will hear them on the balcony," I say.
James peers through a pair of binoculars hung around his neck. "We have pretty much determined that she is asleep."
"I wouldn"t count on that," Seymour mutters.
"We must give her a chance to cooperate," Dr. Seter says for perhaps the tenth time. Although the doctor is supposed to be the boss, it is clear to me the attack units are taking orders only from James.
"She"ll be given every chance she deserves," James says. He clicks on his radio. "Alpha Bottom, this is Control. Are you still holding by the eighteenth floor elevators? Over."
"Control, this is Alpha Bottom. We are near the elevators. Over."
"Alpha Bottom, this is Control Alpha Top will be swinging onto the balconies momentarily. Do not move toward Suite Eighteen Twenty-one until you are ordered. Over."
"Control, this is Alpha Bottom. Understood. Out."
James studies the top group through his binoculars. Then he clicks his radio back on. "Alpha Top, this is Control. Any signs that Kalika is in the living room or kitchen area? Over."
"Control, this is Alpha Top. We have detected no activity in the living room or kitchen area. Over."
"Alpha Top, are your ropes in place? Over."
"Control, we are ready to swing down. Over."
"Alpha Top, this is Control. You may start down. But hold on the balconies until you hear from me. Over."
"Control, understood. Alpha Top out."
"You guys seem to know what you"re doing," I say.
James smiles. "You sound disappointed."
I give a wan smile. "I always have a thing for the underdog." More than a thing. Watching them all converge on Kalika, I feel sick to my stomach. I have to keep telling myself that Kalika is totally unpredictable, that they have to be careful Dr. Seter puts a hand on my arm.
"We have trained for this day for a long time," he says. "But we will not shoot first, I promise you that. She will be given every chance to surrender."
I shake my head. "She will never surrender."
In teams of three, dropping off from two points on the roof, the Alpha Top people begin to slide down toward the balconies. They land in seconds; I watch as they unclip the ropes from their belts. Each carries a weapon, has a radio in an ear, and night goggles. The guy in charge of Alpha Top comes back on the line, speaking in hushed whispers.
"Control, we are in position. Over."
"He shouldn"t be talking," I say. "She"ll hear him. In fact, they should be ready for her to attack.
Now. Tell them to get their weapons drawn. She could come at them any second."
James ignores me. He talks into his radio.
"Alpha Top, this is Control. You will go on my command. Stand ready. Over."
Separated by a corner of the building, neither group of three can see the other group. This is a major weakness in the plan. They should know to the split second what every one of them is doing. Their radios are not fast enough. James continues to bark instructions.
"Alpha Bottom, this is Control. Move toward Suite Eighteen Twenty-one. Alpha Top is in position on the balconies. Over."
"Control, this is Alpha Bottom. Understood. Over."
The ten people on the Alpha Bottom team will crowd one another as they move along the hallway. I point this out to James and suggest he hold back half of them by the elevators. He brushes aside my comment."They know what they"re doing," he says. "They won"t accidentally shoot each other."
"You don"t understand how fast she can move," I say. "The more room they have, the more chance they have of getting off a clean shot."
"I want Alpha Bottom to knock at the door first," Dr. Seter says. "She has to be told that she is surrounded and that escape is impossible."
"She doesn"t think in terms of impossibilities," Seymour mutters. "I think it will be a mistake to knock."
James checks with me. "Do you agree?"
I think of Kalika riddled with bullets while she lies in bed.
"I agree." I turn to Dr. Seter. "There is no point in talking to her. Honestly."
Dr. Seter trembles. "But this could be cold-blooded murder."
"I say we listen to Alisa," James says. Before anyone can protest he clicks on his radio. "Alpha Top and Alpha Bottom, this is Control. We will move on the count of five. One... two... three..."
He does not reach five.
There is loud screaming.
We hear it over the radio and through the air.
We look down to see that the balcony farthest from us is empty-of Suzama people, that is.
Kalika, alone, is out there, her hair hanging down the back of her white robe. Below her, three individuals in black float down toward the large swimming pool. Float is perhaps too kind a word. They are falling to their deaths, and they know it. The few feet of pool water are not going to absorb their falls. Their horrified screams rend the air and I scream at myself for believing that Kalika would just lie down and die.
The three hit the water, landing on top of each other, crashing through to the bottom. Their limbs and skulls explode on contact. The pool is well lit. Within seconds a red wave expands across the blue water. The screams cease. I turn to James.
"Call off the attack!" I yell. "Get your people out of there! She may let them go if they pull back now!"
James stares down in horror as blood fills the pool.
"This is incredible," he mumbles.
I grab him. "I was wrong! She can"t be stopped this way! Tell them to back off!"
He looks at me and frowns. "No. We have only started to fight." He touches his two sharpshooters on the shoulders, the two that crouch below us. "Open fire."
Their bullets begin to ricochet off the balcony. Kalika moves inside.
"Alpha Top!" James shouts into his radio. "She is coming."
No, she has come. Before James can finish speaking, Kalika attacks those on the second balcony.
Only my eyes are fast enough to see exactly what she does. The person closest to the balcony door is a woman with long red hair. Kalika grabs her and twists her head all the way around. Catching the dead woman"s weapon as it falls, Kalika then shoots the otter two in the face. One, a handsome guy with no top skull, falls over the balcony and lands on the sidewalk seventeen floors below. The third one, a short dark guy, simply sits down and dies. Before our sharpshooters can readjust their aim to the nearer balcony, Kalika has retreated inside. And now she has an automatic weapon with her. James struggles to turn his radio back on.
"Alpha Bottom!" he yells. "You must attack!"
"What has happened to Alpha Top?" the guy wants to know.
"Those on the balcony have been taken out!" James says and forgets all the "Alpha" this and "over" that. There is no time for such formalities. "She is still inside! Get her!"
"Tell them she has a gun!" I say.
"She has a gun!" James yells. "Alpha Top, you must get down to the balconies! Alpha Bottom is going in!"
The four still on the roof are peering over the edges. They see that the pool is full of bodies and so is one of the balconies. Why, there is even a body down on the sidewalk. They don"t want to go anywhere. I wish they would go back the way they came. I know they are in extreme danger just by being on the roof.
"We have to stop!" Dr. Seter cries to his son, his face ashen. "Alisa is right! Don"t send any more people."
The radio is screaming.
Now Alpha Bottom is dying.
They have kicked in her door, violated her s.p.a.ce. There are gunshots, sounds of tearing flesh, splattering blood, breaking bones. And over it all I hear Kalika laughing. She is unstoppable and knows it.
It is only then I realize that from the very beginning this has been a trap. Seymour was right. Kalika let me hear enough to figure out where she lived. She knew I would try to get help, and since she obviously doesn"t like the Suzama group, so much the better that they should come to her to die. I hear one woman begging for mercy and then it sounds as if she is smashed against a wall. James trembles with the radio in his hand. "Alpha Top!" he shouts. "Help your partners!" The four still on the roof look at one another and shake their heads. They would be better off getting down from the roof, yet they must think they are safe up there because they hardly move while the screaming continues. But when it stops, and the firing stops, I finally grab the radio from James"s hands.
"Alpha Top," I say calmly. "She knows you"re up there. Try to go back down the way you came up. Don"t wait for her to come to you. Please, listen to me. Swing down to the nineteenth floor and get in the elevator. There"s still time."
But what time there is they squander. A precious minute elapses while they seem to argue among themselves. At the end of that time, Kalika, her white robe now soaked red, peeks over the edge of the roof. They see her, and those left of Alpha Top are too scared even to level their weapons. As Kalika climbs up onto the roof, they slowly back into the corner farthest from her. Even the sharpshooters at our knees stare in awe. James slaps one on the head.
"Shoot her!" he shouts. "She"s an easy target!" But my daughter makes nothing easy. As a bullet sparks at her feet, she leaps forward and grabs one of the men and holds him as a shield in front of her.
The other three continue to stand immobilized by fear. But now Kalika is looking our way. The sharpshooters cease firing. James throws a tantrum.
"Don"t stop!" he screams. "Kill her!"
"But she"s holding Charles," one protests.