He indicated a chair and sat back down. “The president’s chief of staff called this afternoon. The president wanted to know more about this microportal thing you used for the interview with the Alternates. By the way, I think that name, Alternates, has stuck.”
I told him what I knew about the gadget. “Dan Howell is setting up mass production for them. In fact, he’s negotiating with smart phone manufacturers to start making communicators using the technology.”
“You mean like cell phones?” He looked fascinated.
“Exactly. They’d replace cell phones, and users will be able to talk to other users anywhere on this planet or the other Earth for that matter, maybe anywhere in the two solar systems, without the speed of light delay. Of course, right now the power needed for interstellar distances would be prohibitive for a hand held device.”
“So with these things the Mars missions will be able to communicate without a delay.” Frost had always shown an interest in getting to Mars. This news was undoubtedly intriguing for him.
I smiled. "Oh, portals will do more than that. With one aboard, the crews for the Mars missions can go home when they get off duty. Portals will open up the whole solar system. It’s funny though, the Alternates don’t have nearly the rocketry capability we do. They’re currently restricted to their Earth.”
Frost nodded. “Unfortunately, wars do tend to encourage technology…. How’s your investigation going?”
“I talked to Manny Castillo today. He’s a football player, and he apparently started Coach Bednarik on the road to ruin.”
“You mean the coach who was fired not long ago because of too many losing seasons.”
“That would be him. It appears he enrolled at least six of his academically challenged players as clients for Duncan Reid’s tutoring program. It turns out that Reid was hacking into the instructors’ accounts and selling their tests. Probably for deniability he tutored using the tests.” I shook my head ruefully. “You know, I don’t think Manny realized he was cheating until today.”
He frowned. “That’s unfortunate. You think the school will take that into account?”
“I certainly hope so.”
Frost leaned back in his chair and nibbled his lower lip. “And you think this Coach Bednarik was involved in the explosion?”
I shrugged. “I don’t have any proof right now, but while those six players were eligible, the team was winning; that is, until Reid pulled the plug to focus on building his teleportals. At that point all six had to be dropped from the team and the winning was over. He might well blame Reid for getting him fired.”
Frost tilted his chair back and templed his fingers. “Do you have a plan for getting proof then?”
“I’m still working on that. I’m not sure I’ll ever find the smoking gun or the phone used to detonate the explosives. Right now I’m working on collecting as much circumstantial evidence as I can to convince the police to open the case as a murder investigation. I’m hoping my visit with Dr. Wells this morning convinced him the explosion has to be investigated as murder. I know LaMotte’s precinct would jump at the chance. They’re already steaming because Homeland won’t let them get involved in the so-called investigation.”
“Any idea of how to find the smoking gun?”
It was my turn to frown. “I’m currently going on the suspicion that the explosive was C4. It’s pretty tightly controlled, so it should be possible to find out what’s required to buy it legally and locate the legitimate sources that can sell it. I’m hoping there aren’t too many in the local area. I’ll see if any of them sold to Bednarik. If not, that leaves the black market dealers. I’m probably going to need professional help finding out who they are and how to contact them. I’m not even sure it would be safe to do that.”
Frost asked, “You mentioned a cell phone detonator. Do you have any evidence of that?”
“Unfortunately, no. If there was one, it probably went in the trash as soon as it did its job, and the trash has been picked up everywhere in town by now. Of course, the explosive could have been set off by a timer. LaMotte didn’t say anything about finding any remnants at the scene, but Capt. Weigner, the watch commander of the fire unit that responded, did say there were pieces of an electronic device imbedded in a support stub. Of course, that doesn’t mean a phone necessarily. And I haven’t had a chance to talk to any other responders, like Officer Baker, who might have seen something. Homeland moved in before an arson investigator got to the scene, so that rules him or her out.” I had a flash of realization. “Come to think of it, I should probably call Baker, now that he can talk to me.”
Frost’s watch buzzed, and he looked at it. “Sorry to break this up, but I have a formal dinner party to go to. Sounds like you’ve got a lot on your plate. Let me know if it comes down to checking the black market. I have a few contacts in Homeland.” He stood. “Thanks for the update.”
As I got up, I added, “If Wells is at your dinner, please don’t tell him about the communicator idea. Make that please don’t tell him in any case.”
Frost laughed.
◆◆◆
Day 11, 6:30PM
When I got home, it was only 4:30 in Colorado. I plugged in the microportal and called Troy. He answered on the first ring, a big smile on his face. “Hi, beautiful. Good to see you.”
“Hi yourself. Do you have a minute?”
He looked right and left. “As long as you don’t mind the whole team listening in.”
I gave him a quick rundown of my progress including my discussion with Wells.” He interrupted to say, “So that went better than expected.”
I nodded and continued, finishing with “I suspect the explosive was C4, but these days I’m a little uncomfortable going online to find explosive dealers. I don’t want to raise red flags with NSA or the CIA. Internet privacy is limited enough without being on their lists.”
He chuckled. “Aren’t you being a little paranoid?”
I smiled back at him. “Could be, I guess.”
Melissa stepped into the field of view. Looking over Troy’s shoulder, she put in her two cents worth, “You did say you were in touch with Jake. Maybe he could help you. In fact, why don’t you let him use the circuit board to call me, and I’ll encourage him… to help, that is.” Troy smirked. We both knew Mel was smitten with Jake, and from all indications the feeling was reciprocated.
“Good idea, Melissa. I’ll do that.”
We continued to exchange pleasantries for a few more minutes. I was about to sign off when Melissa said, “You know, Sam, we’re still looking for ways to open a connection to the other universe safely once this mess is straightened out. I was wondering if you might have some ideas.”
I thought about that and realized I did have one idea. “The only thoughts I have is that if we could put both portals in a vacuum …”
Troy almost jumped out of his seat. “That’s it!” He stood and began pacing. “We could use two identical sized tori and seal them in vacuum …” He wandered off mumbling. I’d never seen him like this, and I almost laughed.
Melissa looked over her shoulder at Troy. “You seem to have triggered something. Thanks.” She turned back to me, grinning broadly. “On another note, our guards have been acting furtive lately. Any idea what it’s about?”
“Well, the whole world knows about teleportals now. They may think there’s no point in keeping you guys incommunicado. It would make sense to me that they may have heard you’ll be going home soon. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t know that. It’s just speculation on my part.”
Troy came back at that moment. He was still babbling about putting the test portals in vacuum chambers. We put our heads together and started discussing how to implement the test. We didn’t close our connection until they broke for dinner.
It was late, but I had put off my daily run for more than a few days because of my injuries. I actually felt well enough to get back in action. Putting on my running gear, I headed out of the condo. The wind
hit as I left the building, sending a chill through me. I forced myself to walk to the end of the parking lot. A blast of cold air took my breath away when I cleared the building and made me question whether I really wanted to run. I gritted my teeth and set out on the trail to the east at a slow jog. Once I was underway, I began to think about the day’s events.
Now that I had corroboration that Bednarik might have had it in for Reid, how did that effect my investigation? I could question some of the other students on the cheaters list, but the way the evidence was pointing made that seem to be a lower priority. What I needed was solid evidence, something other than hearsay.
What about the explosive, if there was one? There was a consistent reference among the responders to an odor of almonds. That didn’t necessarily mean the explosion was caused by C4, but it was a good indication. From what I had read, commercially available C4 was watched more closely than doctors’ prescriptions. It could only be sold to licensed explosives engineers, and inventories were tightly controlled and monitored. That meant if it had been bought from a legitimate source, there had to be a paper trail.
I knew for sure Bednarik wasn’t an explosives engineer. I thought back to my conversation with Frost earlier in the day. We’d discussed two options: finding a licensed engineer who could buy it for him or finding someone who would sell it black market style. Since then I thought of one other possibility, making it himself. In my research I had discovered that the fabrication process was described in something called “The Anarchist’s Handbook,” and everything I had read made it sound simple. Somehow Bednarik didn’t strike me as a chemistry major, but he could certainly read, so I couldn’t ignore it completely.
More likely he found someone to sell it to him. If he bought it off the books, maybe I could track down where he bought it, but I would need help. I immediately remembered Frost’s suggestion of talking to Jake. He probably didn’t have any direct knowledge of the black market, but I’d bet he had contacts who did. I’d have to get together with him in the morning.
With light from the city reflecting off the low clouds to light my way I settled into my run.
Chapter 28
Rebecca Williams guesting on Channel 15: “Dr. Friedlund, I understand you have been using teleportals for over twenty years now. How did the transition go?”
Friedlund: “As you can imagine. The first year was chaotic, people out of work, companies going bankrupt. The governments had to bail out whole cities. In some ways it resembled the Great Depression. I believe you had one of these as well.”
Williams: “We did. Did you resort to public works projects to provide jobs?”
Friedlund: “Initially, yes. But the combined governments of North America embraced the new technology and helped companies create new jobs, many of them coming from the teleportal technology itself. For your earth the subspace communicator you’re using for this interview could be an example. Your Mr. Santori developed it. As I understand it, you’ve already started setting up production, and we’ll certainly want to license it as well. And worldwide on your earth as on ours there will be jobs needing to be filled that are just steps away using teleportals. Your governments will have no choice but to work together to provide education to fill those jobs. … Unless your more antagonistic world environment prevents it.”
Channel 15News
Day 12, 5:30AM
Before I went to bed, I left a message for Jake to call me as soon as he got to work. Unfortunately, that happened to be at 5:30 in the morning. “Hello?” I mumbled.
“You asked me to call.” It was Jake. His voice held a hint of delight for waking me.
“You could have waited for a reasonable hour,” I grumbled.
“You’re awake now, so what did you want?”
My head was starting to clear. “A list of legal sellers for C4, and the name of someone who can point me to the less scrupulous sellers that I can safely contact.”
“Why the hell do you want that?” If he was irritated, it didn’t come across—more like he was curious.
“I believe the explosion was intentional. Officer LaMotte smelled almonds at the scene, so I’m looking into C4 purchases.”
“First of all I don’t know of any way a private citizen can buy C4 legally. You have to be an explosives engineer with a license and meet a bunch of other really stringent requirements. It sounds like you have a suspect, but I seriously doubt he could qualify. If you’re going to look into the illegitimate dealers, I’d recommend a bodyguard—make that insist on—a bodyguard. Stop by my office in an hour. I’ll see what I can do for you.”
I started to sputter that I hadn’t had breakfast yet and then thought better of it. He was offering help, and I didn’t want to tick him off. I mumbled, “I’ll be there,” and scrambled out of bed.
I managed to squeeze in a stop at a nearby drive-through. I came away with a breakfast sandwich and a cup of coffee, and barely reached Jake’s office by 6:30. He was just hanging up the phone when I knocked on his door.
He handed me some papers. “Here is a list of licensed explosives engineers I got from Homeland. They may be able to get C4 or they may not. Phil Kaminski will meet you at the first one to keep you out of trouble.”
I was surprised to hear Phil’s name. “I’ve met Kaminski, or did you already know that?”
“He asked me about you. You seem to have impressed him.” He smiled. “Apparently it’s not often that he meets a tall redheaded ex-marine mathematical wizard who is helping to change the world.”
I wasn’t sure whether to thank him or punch him. “Thanks. I suppose this means I need to leave right now.”
“You don’t want to keep him waiting, do you?”
I leaned into Frost’s doorway on my way out. “I’m off to check out C4 purchases.”
As I was starting to walk away, Frost stopped me with, “Do you have a photo of Bednarik? He may not have used his real name.”
Crap! Why didn’t I think of that? I literally ran to the security desk. “I need to borrow your computer for a moment.”
The guard knew me, but he still asked why. I explained I was getting evidence on a bombing suspect, and I needed a photo of him. He let me behind the counter and signed into the computer. “All yours, Ms. Pederson.”
It took me all of two minutes to find Bednarik on Facebook and download his profile picture. I emailed it to myself, thanked the guard, and left. I downloaded the photo to my smart phone, and put it in my pictures folder. It was a little grainy, but it would do.
I typed the address of the first explosives engineer into my phone navigation app and headed out.
◆◆◆
Day 12, 7:45AM
The marquee over the door said, “Bright Futures Construction, LLC.” I noted the irony of the seedy looking office building nestled in some unremarkable warehouses. The sign in the window said, “Closed,” so I found a place to park where I could watch the door. I looked around for Phil and spotted him across the street as he was opening the door to his ubiquitous black SUV. He stepped out and waved me over.
“Gentlemen’s hours,” he said as I got near, nodding toward Bright Futures Construction. He smiled cheerfully as he walked around the SUV and opened the passenger door. “Have a seat. We have a few minutes to wait.”
“Thanks, and good morning.” I noticed that the seat heater was on. “I see you were expecting me,” I said as he took the driver’s seat.
He nodded. “Jake said you’d be here.”
“So how’d he shanghai you into babysitting me?”
“Well …” he said with a wry smile. “We’re friends, and you are getting into an area that Homeland has an interest in.”
“Could it be … illegal explosive sales?” I asked sarcastically.
He nodded and began tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.
We sat there in silence, watching the door. After a minute I had to say something. “This feels like a stakeout. Did I miss something?”
Ph
il shook his head. “No, the owner’s already here. We’re just waiting till he flips his sign. … By the way, we’re looking for a big purchase. I asked some of the explosives experts in the office how much C4 it would have taken to blow that building. They said at least forty pounds.” He glanced across the street and went back to tapping on the steering wheel. He seemed mildly impatient but otherwise relaxed. I, on the other hand, had a case of nerves. This was all new to me, and I had no idea how risky it would be.
He turned and looked directly at me. “Do you know what you’re going to do once we get inside?”
Oh boy, I hadn’t given that any thought. I shook my head.
He frowned. “Great. This isn’t a time or place to play it by ear.”
“Well I …” I started.
He obviously knew where I was going. “Okay, let’s set some ground rules. First, don’t tell this guy you’re a federal agent. If he’s into anything illegal, that’ll shut him down immediately. I’d also recommend against saying anything about him selling C4. It’d be best if you didn’t have to tell any lies, but you’re going to need a reason for looking him up that doesn’t suggest you know anything about his illegal sales.”
I absorbed that. “I don’t tell lies. Maybe I could say I’m conducting a private investigation of a murder and would like to know if Bednarik came around looking for a place to buy C4.”
“I like that, honest and direct. It’s worth a try. ”
He glanced at the store front and then looked back at me. “Since we’ll be working together and we may have to wait a while, we may as well get to know each other. Do you have family around here?”
“My mom and Dad live in San Diego. Dad retired from the navy a few years ago, and they both wanted to be near a navy base. What about you?”
“My parents are both dead, years ago. My wife’s folks live in Baltimore, and they make me feel at home any time I’m around them.”
We continued the get acquainted talk until I caught movement out the corner of my eye. Someone had flipped on the open sign for the office.
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