Free Brainrush 03 - Beyond Judgment by Richard Bard Page B

Bronson. He rolled the name over and over in his mind, sliding it into imagined keyholes in the hope of unlocking…something.
    Anything.
    What he got was nothing.
    Renzo—Jake—struggled to deal with everything he’d learned during the past several hours. They’d told him he was smart, that he’d spoken a dozen languages. But he couldn’t even speak the language that was supposedly native to him.
    So Mario had translated as Tony and Marshall told him stories too wild to fathom—and too unimaginable to be anything but true. Especially the part about accidentally triggering the launch of a pyramid from an ancient cavern in Afghanistan. He thought back to the conversation:
    “I was there, Jake—when you and Sarafina solved the riddle of the pyramid’s glyphs,” Mario had said in Italian, translating for Tony. “According to what you explained afterward, you used the solution to activate the device. It seemed to come alive, linking with your brain. You said there was a massive exchange of information and then the pyramid lifted from the ground, spinning like a top in midair. It produced a laser beam that bore an exit hole straight up through the mountain.A second later, it launched itself out of the chamber and into space.”
    There had been a long pause before Jake finally said in Italian, “You’re joking with me, yes?”
    Mario had translated Jake’s question for the two Americans. They had responded with grim expressions and shakes of the head.
    “B-but why?” Jake had asked. “What was it all about?”
    The three men had exchanged furtive glances before Marshall started to reply. But Mario cut him off with a wave of his hand. The old man knew the story for himself. Jake recalled his blowing out a long breath before saying, “You told us that the device had been left here thousands of years ago by an alien species. They had identified mankind’s violent nature as a potential threat. The pyramid was like a testing station, or kiosk. Its purpose was to identify that point in time when man’s intellect had achieved the level necessary to develop the capability for interstellar travel. Unlocking the device by solving the complex riddle of the glyphs was the first test; the brain scan was the second. With your enhanced abilities, you passed them both. That triggered the launch, sending the device back to its makers with the results.”
    Jake could barely imagine what he was hearing, much less accept it as truth. But he had seen from his friends’ expressions that they believed every word.
    Mario had hesitated before adding, “You explained that the aliens would later return to pass judgment on mankind. If our violent tendencies remained, then humanity would be eliminated.”
    Jesus!
    Jake shook off the memory and returned to the present. He felt a kinship to these men. But it was a sensation born from the day’s events, not from their shared past. He wondered at the bravery and loyalty they had exhibited by rescuing him today—sixyears after his funeral. Perhaps it was fitting that their reunion was to be consummated on the Isola di San Michele. The walled island was a cemetery isle.
    It had also been the secret gathering place of the Gondoliers’ Guild since the late sixteenth century.
    They’d switched boats twice before arriving at the deserted dock. His wrinkled clothes were finally dry. Night had fallen, and a thin blanket of fog hung over the water. Bugs buzzed in endless circles around the lone lamp over the concrete pier. Two men appeared out of the mist. They wore windbreakers, knit caps, and wary expressions. Each carried a vintage assault rifle.
    Mario motioned for them to lead the way. “Stay close,” he said. They single-filed through an arched gate leading to an earthen path framed by cypress trees. A beam from one of the gondolier’s flashlights strayed from the path and reflected off an expansive stretch of grave markers. Only a few were adorned with fresh flowers.
    Death all around