"Please…"
The President walked to his desk and pressed a button on his phone, and spoke to his secretary outside.
"Could you please ask Mr Sonderheim to come in now?"
A door to the side of the room opened, and David Sonderheim walked briskly through the doorway into the Oval Office. Kerrin watched him, noting how the broad smile and look of excitement that lit up his face quickly vanished and was replaced by a blank, almost fearful expression the moment he caught sight of the others.
The President made no attempt to greet Sonderheim as warmly as he had done with Kerrin and Dana. Instead, he simply said,
"Thank you for coming Mr Sonderheim. Would you like to join us and take a seat, please…", pointing to the one free chair which was shielded from Kerrin by the presence of Buz in-between them. Sonderheim sat down, his demeanour quiet and apprehensive.
"Well, Mr Graham, now we have everyone present, I think the ball is in your court…Please feel free to speak candidly…and don't worry…our conversation is not being overheard or taped in anyway…"
It was a subtle attempt at humour, the meaning of which was not lost on Kerrin. He smiled back weakly, the reference to the Watergate tapes being deliberate, openly acknowledging that Kerrin worked for the Washington Post.
"Perhaps Mr Graham, you would now like to start by answering me the question that Buz asked you yesterday, namely…what is it that you want from us? Buz has briefed me on your conversation yesterday, and I fully understand the precautions you have taken, and the potential you have to embarrass us, and to destroy one of the most important scientific programmes ever undertaken by mankind…"
Kerrin straightened up in his chair.
"As I said yesterday, what I want is very simple. I think you will know that for many years I was an officer of the law in Miami…I served my time on the streets. I suppose it takes a peculiar type of person to want to put his life at risk from one day to another, in the pursuit of one thing…"
"And what would that one thing be, Mr Graham?" The President asked, foolishly walking into the trap that Kerrin had laid for him.
"Justice, Mr President. Justice." Kerrin answered. "You see, Mr President, to coin a phrase, once a cop, always a cop, and perhaps even more so now that I'm a journalist and a voice of the people…But putting that aside for a second, this is more personal than that…Someone messed with my family, someone killed the husband of my sister, and took away the father of my nephew and niece…that same person killed my colleague and friend, Fiona Cohen, and authorised the deaths of a string of other people…Okay, so you're the head of the Chymera Corporation, but we're sitting in the Oval Office, the centre of the American empire…based upon liberty and freedom…and justice. And that's what I'm here for today…just one thing. Justice."
The President was silent. He looked at Kerrin, and then at Dana. He was thinking fast.
"I am aware of your personal pain. I am aware of the events in Orlando. I am also aware of your trip to South Africa, and the events that occurred there…" The President did not look at David Sonderheim, but the tension in the room was growing and everyone could sense his presence.
"…But Mr Graham, are you saying that after all this, and even though you are now in possession of some, shall we say, very privileged knowledge, and even though you are a journalist…and the desire to 'print and be damned' must be high indeed, that in spite of all this, all you are seeking is 'justice' ? "
"Yes!"
"And if you get your 'justice', Mr Graham, what is it that you can give us in return?" the President asked.
"The question is not what I will do if you do give me what I want, but rather what I will do if you do not. I'm sure that if Buz has briefed you fully on our conversation last night, that you know I am in a position to destroy the Orlando Project, to expose it to the public, along with the existence and membership of the Chymera Corporation, and of course yourself…Personally, I like your politics, I even voted for you at the last election, so I think it would be a shame if I had to expose you and you were to subsequently go down in history as the second President of the United States of America to be kicked out of office by the Washington Post…"
The President stood up slowly. Buz shifted uneasily in his seat.
"No Buz, it's okay…" The President waved at Buz, gesturing to him to stay seated.
"So…this whole thing hinges around one thing…the pursuit of justice…the great American ideal?"
"Yes, it does."
The President stepped away from the chairs and walked back towards his desk, easing himself slowly into his seat of office.
"And all you want is for justice to be seen to be done…"
"Yes Sir, that's all I want…"Kerrin replied.
As Kerrin spoke the President sank back into his chair, at the same time reaching out with his right hand and slowly sliding open a drawer. He reached inside, and in a swift fluid motion, the President pulled out a gun, raising it clear above his desk and pointing it at the chest of David Sonderheim, only feet away.
Phutt…Phutt.
The gun in his hand jumped twice, the silencer on the end of the muzzle spitting two bullets into the air.
David Sonderheim jerked violently, his chest jumping twice, and his arms flaying wildly through the air as the bullets ripped into his chest. The momentum of the bullets pushed his body backwards, and his chair toppled over, crashing onto the ground with David Sonderheim sprawled awkwardly on top of it.
Dana screamed and Kerrin and Buz both jumped to their feet. Sonderheim looked up from the ground, his eyes glazed and his mouth wide open, the expression on his face one of complete surprise…
"As you said, all you wanted is for justice to be seen to be done. I think you both just saw it being administered," the President of the United States said as they all stared at the body on the floor.
Kendrick stood up, and while Kerrin and Dana watched, he put the gun back into the drawer and closed it slowly. He walked around to the front of the desk and sat back down beside Dana.
"I'm sorry Mrs Graham, but your brother-in-law was one of those whom Mr Sonderheim killed. You had every right to witness justice being done…" He turned to Kerrin, and indicated for him to sit again.
"Please, I have complied with your wishes, and now I must tell you mine. But first, if you don’t mind…" he nodded to Buz and waved at the body.
Buz stood, and picking up the back of the chair in which Sonderheim was lying, his legs dangling loosely over the edge of the seat, he dragged it backwards to the edge of the Oval Office, opened a side door, and took the body out of the room. That was the last Kerrin saw of David Sonderheim.
Kerrin and Dana stared after the body as it was dragged away, speechless and in shock. It had all happened so quickly.
It was hard to believe what had just taken place. Kerrin had spent the past month chasing after the man who had killed his brother-in-law, determined to see 'justice' be done, determined to exact revenge on the person responsible for the deaths of all those who had died at Gen8tyx. He had appealed to the highest power in the land for 'justice' to be done…and his plea had been heard. He had got what he wanted.
It was just that it had all happened so fast.
And now what?
A minute passed then Buz returned.
"Thank you Buz…now Mr Graham…may I call you Kerrin…and Dana? Before I tell you what I want from you…I want to tell you a bit about us, and what it is that you have the power to destroy…the mark of any true hunter is that they fear and respect the prey they kill…and I would like to think that you know enough about us to respect us, if indeed you later decide to kill and destroy everything we have achieved."
The President stood up and walked slowly around the room, one hand in his pocket, the other gesturing passionately in the air.
"Kerrin, do you believe in America?…no truly…do you? Regardless of your politics, at the end of the day, are you a patriot? Let me assure you, that there is nothing,
nothing, I would not do for our country. I am its servant, and it is my master…The Chymera Corporation is a group of like-minded people…but not just ordinary people. They are powerful people. Rich people. Influential people, people who have dedicated their lives to the service of their dreams, and having achieved them are now dedicating their lives and their power to their country…"
"…We all share one goal, namely that America stays 'the' best and 'the' most powerful country in the world, and that other countries where freedom and liberty have no meaning, come to embrace our philosophy and our constitution…and that slowly, the world will become as one with us…"
"There will come a time, when this will happen. When injustice will disappear and every man shall be free…"
"…But I cannot stand here and in a few minutes tell you how an organisation that is over sixty years old was born and grew, and became what it is today…The history of the Chymera Corporation is long and deserves more than to be summarised in just a few short minutes…perhaps one day I will be able to tell you more…I would like you to understand us…"
"…Being part of Chymera is a privilege that only very few ever experience…few are invited to join…You are right to guess that I am their C.E.O.. It is an office I hold with honour and with pride!"
Kendrick's eyes were almost glazed, such was the reverence with which he spoke his words.
"…But for now, I want to talk to you about the Gen8tyx Company, and the Orlando Treatment. You've read the dossiers and the files and you know what they have achieved…"
"Excuse me, please. Before you go on…" Kerrin spoke up, wanting desperately to interrupt the tirade he was being subjected to.
"Yes?"
"I don't understand. This is all about the Orlando Treatment…keeping it secret…protecting the organisation…but you just killed the founder and architect of the whole project! What will you do now?"
"Kerrin, to be frank, Sonderheim had become an embarrassment. His handling of the Gen8tyx takeover was a disaster. We couldn't believe what he did to the founding members…Cold blooded murder is not something the Chymera endorses! Frankly, the man had become a liability. Steps had already been taken to curtail his actions...steps, which ironically, you prevented being fully implemented!…But enough of that. Justice has been served…Yes, Sonderheim was the founder of the project, and yes, he was a genius. But there are many geniuses in Chymera…Have you heard of Sabre Genetics? Yes? Well, their staff, Chymera staff, now run Gen8tyx…and as from tomorrow I will appoint the CEO of Sabre into a new role as the head of Gen8tyx. I know he wants the job, and he's a good man. His hand-picked staff have already been running the Gen8tyx organisation for the past two months…"
"We first became aware of Gen8tyx several years ago. We gave them some venture capital, helped them on their way…all done very discreetly at arm's length, you understand…but we kept a keen eye on them…"
"…Their progress was remarkable. We soon got our initial investment back, and more…then one day, we realised that things were going just a little too well. We realised that the scientists at Gen8tyx were beginning to push back the frontiers of science just a little too far. Things were becoming dangerous…Can you understand me when I tell you that the discoveries that they were making were beginning to threaten the very existence of our society?…"
"I can't say that I do…Please elaborate…" Kerrin replied.
"Society is based upon death. Everything we do is based upon the basic fact that life is limited, that one day we will die…The economics of our society are based squarely upon the fact that we grow old, that we stop working, that we get ill, that we retire, we become frail…and then we die…That's why we have children…to replace the dead and the dying…"
"…Gen8tyx was starting to tinker with the fundamental laws of nature…starting to make discoveries which would let people live longer, healthier, fitter lives…"
"But surely that's good. If people live longer, healthier lives, our productivity would go up, and the cost of healthcare would go down!" Kerrin interrupted.
"Yes,…in the short term there are some positive advantages…but with people remaining fitter and healthier for longer, fewer people would want to retire…the population would rise dramatically, there wouldn't be enough jobs to go around…which would lead to unemployment and depression, a cancer that would eat away at our society, and which, as history quite clearly shows, would ultimately lead to war…"
"Rubbish! We would just create more jobs, increase our output…more people buy more, sell more…the cycle of money would simply expand…" Kerrin argued back.
"Kerrin…more people means more pollution, more raw materials required for washing machines, more metal for cars, more power for all the new homes…where is all that going to come from…? Believe me, our scientists have gone over it a thousand times, for every benefit you can think of, for every positive aspect you can find to it, our guys came up with a thousand negatives. A thousand reasons why things would ultimately get worse…"
"This planet is not capable of continuing to support the rate at which the human population is growing. And if the truth were to be known, it's probably already too late to stop the pollution, the destruction of our forests, our atmosphere…What we need right now is for the population to decrease, dramatically, not to grow indefinitely…"
The President suddenly looked tired, and drawn.
"So, if you think it's so wrong and dangerous, why did the Chymera Corporation buy Gen8tyx?" Dana asked, speaking for the first time.
"Quite simply to control it…and to protect it… At the moment they are light years ahead of anybody else… and now we own Gen8tyx we own and can control all their patents. The knowledge base is ours…and if anyone else duplicates the work they've done in the years to come, we can prevent them from doing anything with any discoveries they make…we own the copyrights…and our lawyers will do anything to protect them…We will prevent the Orlando Treatment becoming publicly available. We will never release the news of our scientific progress or provide details of our discoveries. Can't you see?…We mustn’t. We have no other choice. It is our moral duty to do so. We have to be cruel to be kind…If we let this knowledge get out, ultimately it would lead to the end of us all!"
Kerrin listened. Stunned.
He wanted to object to what the CEO of Chymera was saying…he wanted to shout his protest and disagree, but in spite of himself, he could see that there was sense behind what he was being told.
"So what do you do, simply disregard all that you have discovered?" Kerrin asked eventually.
"Of course not. In fact, we will continue the research to its natural conclusion. There is much to be learned that will benefit mankind, even though it can't be released to them! In fact, we are just about to start the next phase of the research…"
The President stood in front of Kerrin, looking down into his eyes as he spoke.
"Although we can't apply this knowledge to everyone we would like to, imagine what good we can do with it…Society is led by its leaders…if you have good leaders, you have, hopefully, a good society…"
"…Of course, we all make mistakes, but most of us learn from them…Unfortunately, one of the cruel aspects of nature is that as we grow older, the wisdom we learn from our experiences is taken away from us by senility or decrepitude, or death…Imagine what it would be like if our leaders, the people who control the destiny and lives of millions of people…if they were given the opportunity to exercise their life-long gained experience for longer. That instead of dying, or having to retire, just when they had accumulated the real wisdom that would enable them to govern properly and wisely, that they were allowed to continue to lead their people to even greater heights of success…imagine what it would be like if the wisdom of society could be kept and maintained, nurtured and allowed to flourish yet further…Imagine what it would be like if we could help the greatest artists and writers and musicians to continue to give their gift to mankind for many years longer t
han they currently can…take Ludwig Van Beethoven for example…how many more pieces of beautiful music would he have been able to compose if he had not gone so profoundly deaf,…or think about what other wonders of literature William Shakespeare would have been able to produce if he had lived another twenty or thirty or fifty years?…Think about it…and then imagine what would the world would be like now!"
Kerrin stood up from his seat, looking across at Dana. She was white faced, yet caught up in the words of the President.
"You're talking about giving the Orlando Treatment to the leaders of society?…In other words, you are suggesting that we create a new class of people…a semi-immortal race of humans that govern and dominate the rest of the world?"
"That's not exactly what I'm saying…the way you put it, it sounds cruel and sinister. That's not what this is about. We want to…"
"…And what buys the right to be given the Orlando Treatment? Money? Power?" Kerrin interrupted him.
"Perhaps, but also artistic ability, or outstanding service to humanity…Think Kerrin, think…And so what if money and power form part of the criteria for selection? Take Buz here: he runs a multinational industry employing tens of thousands of people…he built it from scratch…he did… Buz is the driving force and inspiration for all that's been achieved…and thanks to him tens of thousands of parents go home every night to a table full of food, and a family where the children sleep under a solid roof and have wonderful toys to play with. Buz doesn't just create money, he generates happiness and security for his employees. He's good at it. Successful. Now what happens to all those people when he dies or steps down? I'll tell you what, …the chances are that the companies he owns will not prosper as well as they once did under his leadership. And that means that thousands of families could lose their jobs and their way of life…If we have the ability to protect their happiness and security by extending the ability of Buz to lead them into the future, and ensuring his ability to carry on making the right corporate decisions with continued vitality and intelligence, is that not something that we have a duty to do? I say it is! And if Buz is seen to benefit from it by being rewarded with long life and an expanded span of natural health, so what? I would think that that's the least form of reward that we can offer him for offering so much to so many others!"
The Orlando File Omnibus : (Omnibus Version-Book 1 & Book 2) Page 39