Beyond Control

by Lawrence Verigin

  Dr. Smith looked toward Hendrick as if for support. “The life-extending is much closer to being ready. The cure may be a while, but our team feels like a breakthrough is imminent.”

  Davis could sense Dr. Smith was just trying to sound optimistic. The reality must’ve been that they weren’t even close. “You said a year ago that you’d found the actual cure.”

  “I thought I did, but not quite.”

  Davis pulled out two folded pieces of paper from his linen pants pocket and handed them to Dr. Smith. He wished even more that Hendrick wasn’t present to hear what he had to admit. Davis saw what he had as a weakness and hated it. “I have advanced colon cancer; the kind we were supposed to be protected from.”

  “Really?” Hendrick looked surprised.

  Dr. Smith unfolded the papers and read.

  “How could that be?” Hendrick asked. “You knew what foods to avoid. Could it be from the environment?”

  “I don’t know. I eat in the finest restaurants; however, they aren’t always immune to genetically engineered food. Maybe I should’ve been more careful.” Davis stared right at Hendrick. “Or maybe what your father unleashed is deadlier than anyone thought. Which means we’re all at grave risk.”

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Lovemark,” Dr. Smith said. “This is severe.”

  “So what are you going to do about it?”

  Dr. Smith looked down at the papers for a long moment. “Why don’t you stay here for a while and we can run more tests. There’s a chance we may be able to help you while you help us with the cure.”

  “You want me to be one of the guinea pigs?”

  “I don’t see any other option,” Dr. Smith said. “There is no known cure at this time. We are the only ones who are close. However, your cancer is quite advanced …”

  “I can’t believe this.” Hendrick took the papers from Dr. Smith. “Who gave you these results?”

  “My personal physician. I assure you that the testing was conducted by experts.”

  “We were supposed to be protected from this.” Hendrick read the summary. “If it could happen to you, it could happen to all of us.”

  “Didn’t I just say that?” Davis crossed his arms. “The plan’s not working so fucking well.”

  Otto approached. “Dr. Schmidt, may I have a word in private?”

  CHAPTER 31

  We sat in the living room. As Ivan finished reading each page of Dr. Smith’s information, he passed it onto Sue, Mike, and me. There were a lot of formulas and numbers, so it was hard to understand, but I could get the underlying theme and it wasn’t good. It reinforced what Dr. Smith had told us at the warehouse. Unaltered fields were being cross-pollinated with genetically engineered seeds from up to a hundred miles away, and at an alarming rate, much higher than anyone had predicted. That was the case with every type of crop, but especially with wheat, soy, and corn—the most prevalent crops. Then the newly infected crops spread their seed in another large radius. The only way farmers could know what was happening was either to take samples to a lab for testing, which was expensive, or to spray them with glyphosate—if the plants lived they were genetically engineered.

  Then there was the rapid contamination of ground water with glyphosate and neonicotinoids. That dramatically increased the subsequent build-up and detection in peoples’ bodies. Naintosa had hoped the gradual increase of the poisons would not be noticed in people or the environment. However, the much faster rate was beginning to cause alarm in the scientific and medical communities.

  In the spectrum of Naintosa’s plan, the first two stages of weakening immune systems and allergies were increasing exponentially, but the third stage of increased diseases had not jumped at the same rate yet. Maybe people’s immune systems were fighting back? But for how long?

  I saw why Dr. Smith had admitted that the focus now had to be on how to save people from the sickness that would follow. It was sad to think that it was time to admit defeat and focus on a future of having to live with the consequences.

  Ivan stood and collected the papers. “I must get this information to the Council.” He looked upset, and rightfully so.

  Not knowing what else to do, I followed Ivan to the office. Sue and Mike were right behind me.

  Jorge was watching the monitor and had his cell phone to his ear. There were now four split screens. Enrique’s face was in one of them, adjusting a camera.

  Ivan had gone straight to one of the desktop computers.

  “You have more cameras?” Mike asked Jorge.

  “Yes, we placed one up on the fence before the driveway and one in the backyard, in case someone comes at us from the jungle.”

  Ivan began scanning the pages of information. Sue and I went to help.

  CHAPTER 32

  May 28, 2003

  It had been five days since our meeting with Dr. Smith. The girls had checked for a message each of the last two days. Jorge and Enrique went with them to watch from a distance and see if the drop spot had been compromised. We had no way of knowing what had happened to Dr. Smith after he returned to the compound.

  Jorge had been spending much of his time watching the cameras and reviewing footage from when he was unable to be in front of the screens. The Mercedes that was used to transport more important people had made two trips, but we hadn’t recognized the passengers. The men that had followed us all the way to Saint Thomas were now at the compound and very active, we assumed looking for us.

  Sue, Mike, and I had written a partial report on Dr. Smith’s information. We’d finish it when we hopefully had all the data. The final report would be posted on our website and released to our media contacts.

  Ivan was in contact with the Council on a daily basis, doing what he could to oversee the verification of the supplied research.

  Sam had to have another surgery on his shoulder, so he was going to be out of commission for a while yet.

  Lee was well enough to travel, so he and Lorraine, with the help of their contacts, were on their way to Bogota. From there, Jorge had arranged for his cousin to drive them to Florencia. If all went well they’d arrive tomorrow in the late afternoon. The reinforcements were welcome.

  CHAPTER 33

  May 29, 2003

  Sue and I had decided to meditate every morning as soon as we woke up, to help us stay centered and keep our minds clear. We’d just finished and were on our way to have breakfast when we heard activity.

  Monica came into the living room wearing a colorful flowered dress and walked to the laundry room door. Out of curiosity, we followed.

  Jorge and Enrique were standing there, wearing camouflage and muddy boots. Enrique had a black canvas bag in his hand. Night vision goggles were sitting on the washing machine.

  “What are you doing?” Sue asked.

  “Enrique was able to borrow explosives from the construction site of the engineering project he is part of,” Jorge said.

  “We have a hidden compartment in the tunnel.” Enrique’s hands were dirty. “I think that’s the best place to store them.”

  “I want to see where it is, so I’ll come with you,” Jorge said.

  “What are you planning to do with the explosives?” I asked.

  “Nothing specific,” Jorge said. “Just in case we need them.”

  “You were just at the construction site?” Sue asked. “You wanted to steal the explosives before the sun came up?”

  “No, I did that yesterday,” Enrique said.

  “We just came back from the compound,” Jorge said. “Since we weren’t able to see the place where Enrique thought we could compromise the fence before, I wanted to see it for myself, should the need arise to break in.”

  They looked like guilty kids that’d been caught doing something they weren’t supposed to.

  Monica’s hands were on her hips. “I thought you were going to show Nick and Sue as well.”

  I wasn’t sure why they hadn’t informed us as to what they were doing. “And?”

  “We
didn’t mean to not involve you two,” Jorge said. “We need to be ready with another plan if we don’t hear from Dr. Smith, and we couldn’t sleep last night. So …”

  “It’s exciting for me,” Enrique said.

  Monica turned to Sue and me. “They miss doing dangerous things together.”

  Sue shrugged. “And?”

  “I think we could get into the compound undetected there,” Jorge said.

  I didn’t want to sound like I was scolding. “It would’ve been better if you’d told us what you were up to, in case something happened, so we’d at least have known where to look for you.” It was fine if Jorge and his brother-in-law wanted to check out potential options while bonding, but that was no reason to be reckless.

  Jorge nodded. “Yes, you’re right.”

  “My fault for being overzealous.” Enrique shrugged. “We’ll go put the C4 away.”

  I didn’t see a need to know where the explosives were going to be hidden, as I wouldn’t know what to do with them anyway.

  We left them to it and went to the dining room.

  Ivan had gone to lie down for a few hours, having dealt with the time difference in Oslo and worked for most of the night.

  Within fifteen minutes Jorge and Enrique had washed up and come to eat breakfast.

  “I was thinking.” Enrique pulled an arepa off a pile on a plate. “I could pose as a homeless person who wants food and shelter and get into the compound. I could gather information from the inside.”

  Jorge reached for a hardboiled egg. “If anyone is going to try get into the compound, it will be me.”

  “What about me?” I said. “I should be the one.”

  Jorge, Enrique, Monica, and Sue all shook their heads.

  “Why not? I’m the one most responsible for all of this. I should be the one to take on the most risk.”

  “For one, we’re all in this together and should share the risk.” Sue looked across the table. “Except for Enrique and Monica.”

  “No, no, no,” Enrique said. “I want to do it. And I’m local.”

  “Think of your daughters if anything should happen to you,” Sue said.

  “It should be me,” I said.

  “Nick, you’re a gringo who doesn’t speak Spanish other than ordering a beer,” Jorge said. “It can’t be you.”

  “Oh, you have a point there.” Yeah that counts me out.

  “Come here for a minute?” Jorge was sitting in front of the second monitor and used the remote control to rewind the tape in the VCR.

  Ivan was too busy concentrating on his work, but Sue and I came over.

  “Look who’s arrived.” Jorge stopped the tape at the point where we could see the passengers’ faces in the Mercedes on the road outside.

  I was surprised. “That’s Carlo Da Silva.”

  “Yes.” Jorge advanced the tape by two frames.

  Sue leaned forward. “Yeah, that’s him for sure, but I don’t recognize the guy beside him.”

  I stared at the image. The man beside Da Silva was young, blond, and had a round face. “No idea.”

  Hearing Carlo Da Silva’s name must’ve broken Ivan’s concentration, because he came over to the screen. “That looks like Günther Schmidt, Hendrick’s younger brother.”

  “Why would he be here with Da Silva?” I asked no one in particular.

  “All the main players are here,” Sue said.

  A vehicle appeared in the bottom left screen of the live feed monitor showing the front gate.

  We all hurried to the front door. Mike had been coming up the hall and joined us.

  Within a few seconds a beaten-up Renault Duster parked in the driveway. Out came Lee and Lorraine.

  “Bring us up to speed,” Lee said by way of greeting.

  INTERLOGUE 10

  The only sound in the office was the air conditioner on high, circulating air to combat the afternoon heat.

  Hendrick sat at his desk, thinking and worrying. His father had known more than he’d given him credit for. Hendrick had to admit, at least to himself, that this was way beyond him. The research was much more advanced than what he’d learned at Oxford, and he couldn’t fake his knowledge as he’d first hoped.

  Since Hendrick learned that Dr. Smith had met with Barnes and Popov, all trust was lost. But Dr. Smith was the only person capable of achieving their goals for them. Hendrick hoped that the physical persuasion methods they’d used restored Dr. Smith’s loyalty and focus.

  Now Carlo Da Silva was arriving, and Hendrick wasn’t sure how much he wanted to admit to him. Maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea to summon him. Hendrick couldn’t show weakness.

  Otto escorted two men into the room.

  Hendrick stood, his thoughts still forefront in his mind. “Carlo, thank you for coming all this way.”

  Carlo stepped forward. “No trouble. I’ve wanted an excuse to come and see the operation.”

  When Carlo moved, the man behind him came into Hendrick’s view. “Günter, what are you doing here?” Hendrick wasn’t happy to see his younger brother.

  “Hendrick.” Günter gave a slight nod; a bead of sweat formed at his blond hairline and ran down his temple. Standing still in his damp green polo shirt and khaki shorts, he didn’t advance to greet his brother.

  “I invited him.” Carlo sat down on a folding chair and motioned Günter forward. “Come sit, it’s cooler here.”

  Hendrick, for sure, wasn’t going to admit weakness to his little brother. He’d always suspected Günter would make a play for power once he was ready, but right now he was only twenty-five and still in school. Günter was following in his brother’s, father’s, grandfather’s, great-grandfather’s, and great-great-grandfather’s footsteps of being a scientist. He had talent, drive, and was conniving enough, but he didn’t have the name, Hendrick.

  Günter took a seat beside Carlo. “I’m just here to observe your work.”

  “So you could try take over, perhaps?” There had been no love lost between them ever since they were children and used to beat each other up or pit servants against the other—the younger most often triumphing over the older. Their father outwardly stated he wished they’d gotten along but in secret had relished that his boys were so aggressive.

  Günter couldn’t hide a sly smile. “No, Hendrick, this is your show.”

  Carlo already looked annoyed at the sibling rivalry. “So how is everything progressing?”

  “It’s progressing,” Hendrick said. “Would you like a tour of the facility?”

  “Of course,” Carlo said. “Where is Davis? I thought he’d be here to greet us as well.”

  “He’s taken a turn for the worse today,” Hendrick said. “Davis is in the infirmary. His personal physician arrived a few days ago, and Dr. Smith is trying to help, but it’s advanced.”

  Carlo sat up straight. “What’s advanced? What are you talking about?”

  Carlo didn’t know? Davis hadn’t told him. In that second Hendrick decided to only discuss the positive sides—fortunately, he’d already coached Dr. Smith to do the same. It was only Carlo now that he had to worry about. “I’m surprised Davis didn’t tell you he had colon cancer.”

  “What! Colon cancer? We all were supposed to have been protected. What happened? Could it be another strain?”

  “It’s the same strain of cancer, and we don’t know how he got it.” Hendrick had to admit that part. “Further tests need to be run, but we may have to be even more stringent regarding the safe food. Also, Davis admitted that he wasn’t as careful as he should’ve been.”

  Carlo stood. “I want to see Davis, now.”

  Günter, who’d been staring at his brother, stood as well. He was an inch taller than Hendrick at five feet nine inches.

  “Of course.” Hendrick led the way.

  Otto came out of nowhere and walked behind them as they left the building. The sun was stifling in the open, so they stuck to the few shade trees as they made their way to the infirmary.

&nbs
p; Carlo looked disgusted by the deformed children and scarred adults as they passed. He increased his pace to come up beside Hendrick. “What caused the people to look like that?”

  “Direct exposure to glyphosate.”

  Carlo frowned.

  Hendrick thought it was good that Carlo saw firsthand the true power of direct contact with the herbicide.

  Inside the windowless infirmary, it smelled of disinfectant. Everything, including the walls and tiled floor, was white. Two rows of fifteen beds lined each side with white curtains separating them; half were occupied. One man cried in pain, clutching his stomach, the others seemed to be sedated. A man and a woman in lab coats over scrubs rushed over to the patient in distress. Two other medical personnel reviewed charts next to patients.

  They walked to the back, and Hendrick opened a door. Inside was a private room filled with medical equipment and monitors. It was much cooler in there. An adjustable bed with side railings was in the center; Davis lay in it, looking upset. A man with a full head of gray hair, wearing a lab coat over a T-shirt and khaki shorts, was standing next to a laptop that rested on a high table.

  “Davis, how are you?” Carlo went right to his side. “You never told me you were ill.”

  “I didn’t want to tell anyone.” Davis was gaunt and thin under the hospital gown. He looked vulnerable. “I denied it for as long as I could.”

  “Shouldn’t you be back in the States getting treated, not here in the jungle?” Carlo said.

  “My doctor is here.” Davis motioned with his eyes to the left.

  The doctor glanced over his glasses at them and then went back to viewing the screen.

  “He’s better off here,” Hendrick said. “We are getting close to having the cure.”

  “That’s an embellishment of what Dr. Smith told me.” Davis clutched the lower part of his abdominal area.

  “You’re likely going to die anyway,” Hendrick said. “You might as well let Dr. Smith test on you. That’s your only chance for survival.”