****
W e followed Mr. Kane out of his office and back into the main cavern, and he moved… so fast, I have never seen him move like that before… in all our meetings he was careful and deliberate, but now I realized he was probably slowing himself down on purpose at those times.
“That was quite a bombshell, eh, sonny boy? I have a feeling Kane has a few more surprises up his sleeve. I also think he’s been ‘getting high on his own supply’ as the stoners used to say.”
What? What does that even mean?
“Come on, try to keep up. He told us about the life-extension projects, and we saw what they did with Ernie and even Hassim. Kane has been getting treatments as well. Keep your eyes peeled, let’s see what he can do.”
Keep my eyes… wait, I know what that one means.
“Well, you should by now. I’ve probably said it ten times before. Now pay attention.”
Oh, boy.
As we bolted out onto the platform overlooking the cavern, Mr. Kane’s bodyguards both stood up, ready for action. Mr. Kane reached out and put a hand on a shoulder of each of them, which seemed strange to me. He said, “Willard, get Bernard over here right away, would you please?” and then patted both of the men on the shoulder before removing his hands.
The eyes of the bodyguards went wide at Mr. Kane’s almost affectionate gesture. Willard nodded and tapped the pinger embedded in his left shoulder, and within a few seconds Bernie and his electric cart came barreling around the corner. As he skidded to a stop, Mr. Kane dashed in to the front seat and threw his arm around Bernie’s back. He waved off his bodyguards and said, “We won’t be needing you. In the meantime, try to rest a bit.”
The two burly men made eye contact, shrugged their shoulders, and Willard said, “As you wish, Mr. Kane.”
Bernie turned to look at Mr. Kane’s hand on his shoulder, and Cheri stared at me and shrugged. Weird…
Cheri’s tap on his back startled Bernie, and blurted out, “‘Ello, Miss Kim. Where to then, Mr. Kane?”
Through yet another brilliant smile, he said, “Let’s make the armory our first stop. Hurry please, Bernard.”
“Yes, sir!”
We skidded away from the platform toward the East Hall, which is literally a hall tunneled into the side of the immense cavern, and Cheri said, “So, Bernie, that’s all you’re going to say to me? ‘Ello, Miss Kim?”
“Sorry, miss, I reckon I need to be on my best behavior. My boss is sitting right next to me, in case ya didn’t notice.”
Mr. Kane clapped and chuckled as we whipped through a turn toward the middle throughway, and moments later turned east again, the hall dead in front of us. We practically flew past the entrance as the tiny, ultra-bright automatic overhead LEDs came on, and again the cleanliness of it all amazed me. We slid to a stop in front of the fourth entryway on the left, and there was Ronnie, yet another gigantic, bald guard wearing black paramilitary clothing and gear. He gave Cheri and me a quick wink and stood at attention as Mr. Kane gave Bernie a warm handshake and stepped out of the cart. “Hello, Ronald. We’ll be needing some supplies, if you please,” said Mr. Kane as he gently patted Ronnie on both arms.
“Of course, Mr. Kane. Right away.” As he manipulated the hand panel next to the door, he said, “By the way, Mr. Kane, take my advice, don’t shake hands with this little fella here. The last time I did, he nearly broke my arm.”
“Is that right? Well, I’ll be sure to heed your counsel. Oh, also, we may need to dispense with the ten-minute limit for this visit,” said Mr. Kane, patting the enormous man on the back.
“The meter is off, I reckon. There we are,” he said as the door to the armory swung open.
We entered the neatly carved, impeccably clean, square room, approximately thirty meters on a side, the walls covered with racks of weapons and other items. As before, in the center of the room were several racks with tactical uniforms, scuba gear, and other kinds of clothing of all shapes and sizes.
“So, Lucas, I understand you have some items that some of our clever scientists have developed that aren’t part of our arsenal, is that correct?” asked Mr. Kane as we strolled to the left around the perimeter of the room.
“Umm… yeah, mostly from Tom and Barry. I have the camera spray and infrared spray, and those have helped… uh, let’s see… Mr. Harutyunyan made some changes to the EMP device, made it a lot more powerful… you know about the jetpack, and there was the artificial gills mask that Dr. Lazenbee gave me. I think that’s it. Oh, and you know about the quantum communicators, too.”
“Well, you certainly have some smart people on your side. Ms. Kim, we will need a number of items, so would you grab a couple of the bags by the door, please?”
We started with ten spider grenades each. “If we need more than that, we will have failed anyway,” said Mr. Kane as we shuffled from shelf to shelf. “Let’s see… two laser wands each for Ms. Kim and me… you have one in your arm that has been modified, do I remember that correctly?”
“Umm… yeah, Ava keeps it charged up. I can fire it quite a few times before we need to let it recharge.”
“Excellent. Let’s continue. An EMP generator for Ms. Kim, and me as well.” He snatched two of the carbon fiber hand-held devices, then grabbed two pairs of the haptic gloves that make the wearer’s hands so sensitive that putting your hand on a wall will tell you if there is someone in the next room, even if they are only breathing. “I know you probably don’t need these, Lucas, but they could come in handy for Ms. Kim and me if we get separated from you. Let’s see… ah, yes. Two flechette pistols apiece, with twenty pellets each. Lucas, you have one of these embedded in your left arm, and I believe they have expanded the pellet capacity, is that correct?”
“Well, yeah, but…”
“How did I know that? Just because I don’t mention something doesn’t mean I don’t know about it, Lucas. Shall we carry on?”
We passed the compressed air rifles, small-scale rail gun and high-energy laser, all of which Mr. Kane deemed impractical for our mission. We turned to the center of the room, where the racks of uniforms hung. “Let’s see… Lucas, Miss Kim, do each of you still have your heat suits?” he asked, as he rummaged through the tactical gear and odd-looking full-body coverings.
“Yes, we still have ours. I need some new dragon skin, though,” said Cheri. “Mine got torn up on our mission in Pakistan, and I didn’t have time to get a fresh one when we went to Brazil.”
His eyebrow raised, Mr. Kane said, “You went to Brazil without a bulletproof vest? Daring, Ms. Kim. Tempting fate. You’re likely to need it on this trip.”
She selected dragon skin from the hanging rack, and Mr. Kane picked out a heat suit and dragon skin as well. “Now, my friends,” said Mr. Kane, stuffing the items into his bag, “I believe we should go to see Dr. Bhat. It’s time that each of us had our own flying suit, don’t you think, Ms. Kim?”
13
DIRECTOR’S NOTES
MEETING WITH SVC
121952 07:15
-Oh, my head. I thought you were supposed to keep me in line, (SVC).
-Yes, well, at some moments it seems there’s no containing you. My only regret is that there weren’t more people here to witness.
-Am I still wearing the same clothes? Oh, crap… Did I say anything crazy?
-I suppose it depends on what you call crazy. You told me quite a tale about your mother and you and some anonymous notes from a certain ‘uncle’… I believe Marsh-dog was the name, that led to your stock market riches.
-Oh, no! No… I did? I want you to assume I just made it all up. I need some vitamins and some water and a half-gallon of ibuprofen. Wait, ibuprofen probably has a dry measurement, right? How many ounces in a half-gallon? Never mind, just get me some. I really told you that story?
-You did, indeed. Unless I should assume, as you say, that you ‘just made it all up.’ I’ve been thinking about it, though, and as improbable as it sounded, your story would explain quite a lot. Like
how two people with no prior experience or training, or even a home, would come to dominate the stock market in a matter of weeks, when experts spend their entire lives and can’t do the same.
-What, you think ‘travelers in time’ really came to my mom and me, out of all the people in the world, and gave us the secret to untold riches? Maybe it was… what do they call those guys? Oh, yeah, a genie in a bottle. Or a fairy godmother, how about that? Get a grip, (SVC). It was just a combination of brains and luck, that’s all.
-If you say so. You do have a bit of a Cinderella story, though, you must admit.
-Yeah, well, maybe that Marsh-dog was a ghost. Look, we have more important things to concern ourselves with. What’s the status of our gate-storming hordes?
-All things are prepared. We leaked the information carefully for Zoey Perez to find, and she has passed it on to the boy and his consort. Kane will get them to Las Vegas via the private jet, and the rest is up to them.
-How about Oakes and the soldiers?
-They’re in place as well, waiting just outside Las Vegas.
-Any chance the Americans will find them?
-There is a chance, I suppose, but they have been meticulous and vigilant, two things the Americans generally aren’t.
-Doesn’t it seem strange to refer to Americans as a ‘they’ when we are Americans?
-It does indeed. Here, drink this. You’ll feel better.
-Thanks. I’m having a little trouble thinking straight right now. Maybe this will help. Wait, this isn’t ‘hair of the dog’, is it?
-No, just vitamin-infused water. I think you’ve had enough hair for the both of us.
-Hey, do you think Kane read between the lines when we told him about having to stay in the Bright Hand cavern after the evacuation to NZ? I mean, we have no choice, right? He has to stay.
-I think he recognized the expendable nature of his position and suspects that we will leave him behind when all is said and done.
-Well, that is what we all agreed on. He’s been useful for sure, but we don’t have space for him, remember?
-You told him he would be the first to get the boy’s tech when we get it sussed.
-I had to say something to keep him going, didn’t I? Get (BG) and (LPJ) to come by ASA F’n P, and get (JR) on the line. I need to make sure we’re on the same page where (WK) is concerned. And round up some breakfast while you’re at it.
-Oh, feeling better, are we?
-No, but you know me. I can always eat.
****
A s Bernie took us back toward the center of the cavern with our bags full of gear, Cheri elbowed me and whispered, “How are we supposed to trust him?”
I’ve been wondering the same thing… we’re going along with it for now, but he could be planning a trap or something…
I cleared my throat, but before I had a chance to speak Cheri said, “Bernie, plug your ears.”
“I hear nothing, I see nothing, I know nothing,” he said in a mock German accent.
I had just enough time to wonder why he used a German accent before Cheri began: “Mr. Kane, sorry, but we don’t know why we should trust you. You could set us up, maybe even be working for the Americans or someone else. I mean, you’ve been helpful and pleasant always, but you had a motive behind your accommodating ways. You might have a motive now, too.”
Mr. Kane paused and made eye contact with both of us, the smile momentarily gone from his face. “You have good reason not to trust me. Everything I’ve done for both of you up to now has been primarily at the direction of the LFP. But let me tell you this.”
He turned around to face us as the cart spun around a corner toward Dr. Bhat’s lab. He leaned close, and I smelled the mint on his breath covering the odor of coffee; I saw fine lines around his eyes I had never noticed before; and he spoke with an intensity I had never heard from him. “Each time you left, I longed to go with you. I am a man of action, you see; although running the Bright Hand has kept me exceedingly busy, I would have preferred being out there, working to protect you. Both of you. Ms. Kim, when you returned from Pakistan with one arm, I felt as if I had lost one of my own. Then, when the two of you returned from Brazil with bullet wounds… well, it was almost more than I could take. Ahh, here we are.”
We rolled to a stop in front of Dr. Bhat’s labs and stepped out of the electric cart. “Thank you, Bernard. We’ll signal you if we need you,” said Mr. Kane, patting him on the back once again. After Bernie turned a corner and was out of sight, Mr. Kane continued: “There is a secret I must tell you, and hopefully it will ease your mind at least a little. How do I put this… my bodyguards, while useful, are mainly for show. Your friend Hassim, and Ernie Mesa, the young American you had a bit of a tussle with recently? Both are rather highly enhanced, but… I have been receiving treatments for quite a long while, with more advanced tech than either of them. While I am no match for you, Lucas, I can definitely ‘hold my own’, as the saying goes.”
“I knew it! Getting high, high, high… high on his own supply…”
Oh, boy. Please never sing again. That hurt.
“Oh, settle down, sonny boy. You’re so sensitive these days.”
Cheri smacked herself on the forehead with her one remaining hand. “Okay, why am I the only one not getting these ‘enhancements’? Is it some kind of gender bias thing, or what? Jeez!”
Mr. Kane crossed his arms, rested his chin on his left hand, and turned his head toward the ceiling of the great cavern. “A reasonable question. The treatments are definitely male-centric… there are some negative effects on the female biology…”
“Yeah, well, who cares? It’s not like I’m attracting a lot of attention with one arm and a hole in my leg.”
She’s not kidding… she’s upset… “Umm… Cheri, every man we see… they’re all crazy about you, and it seems like… I don’t know how to put it… like you have a relationship with pretty much all of them. I never asked you about it, but…”
“Aww, they all think of me as their little sister. Anyway, I don’t really care about that. I’m ambisexual.”
“Ambisexual? Ava told me about some sexual differences, but I never heard that one.”
“Oh, it means I’m ambivalent about sex. And it’s just…”
Mr. Kane cleared his throat loudly. “As I was saying, the treatments I am benefitting from do have negative effects on female biology. However… I have set some of our researchers to modifying the tech so it will work with females without the negative secondary consequences, as half of the LFP are female. They have come a long way, and there is a compound that… well, it provokes quite an outcome without the side effects. Short-term at this point, but impressive.”
“Okay, now we’re talking. How long is short-term?”
“Before I answer, let me tell you that there have been no human trials yet. We have tested it with primates, and the researchers are confident that it will work with humans. But… you would be the first. The upshot is that it lasts about a week. In long-term tests with mice, it has a compounding effect such that the treatments build up in the system so you need them less frequently as time goes on to maintain the enhancements. As I said, though, they’ve not tested it in humans, and that means there is always the chance of some different outcomes, or that it may not work at all.”
Wait a minute… what about other kinds of effects? “Umm… Mr. Kane, how about emotional side effects? Ernie told me the treatments he was on had a big impact on him.”
“Ahh, excellent question. Ernie was on a much more primitive set of therapies that included high doses of steroids, which of course have a nasty sway on emotional control. That’s why he was so physically ‘puffed up’ as well. These treatments work much more directly, without utilizing hormones to cause the changes. Hence, minimal, if any, emotional troubles.”
“Okay, so where do I go to get it?” asked Cheri, resting her left hand on my shoulder.
The glittery smile finally returned to Mr. Kane’s fac
e. “First thing’s first. Let’s speak to Dr. Bhat, then we can explore the possibility of treatment for you. I believe,” he said, rubbing his hands together, “Dr. Bhat may even may a little surprise for you, Ms. Kim. Let’s go in, shall we?”
14
DIRECTOR’S NOTES
MEETING WITH SVC
121952 08:11
-Okay, anymore digital paperwork for now?
-Nothing that can’t wait. Oh, the secretary of state called again.
-Again? That guy is gum on my shoe. Didn’t you tell him they couldn’t afford to upgrade the nuclear arsenal tech?
-Of course, but it seems he wants to speak with you directly. Perhaps he has a… shall we say secondary interest?
-Oh, gross. That’s not funny, (SVC). That guy’s bald and fat and twice my age.
-I am always gratified to know that you value substance over appearance.
-have you been snorting something this morning, or are you just eager to show what a piece of work you are? You know what I mean, and you’d have the same reaction. Don’t try to hide under the cover of righteousness with me, buddy.
-I suppose you’re right. Either way, he is definitely not my type.
-All right, if you’re done with the comedy jokes, let’s get to something important. Did you get hold of (BG), (LPJ), and (JR)?
Reassemble (Singular Book 4) Page 8